Boeing employees work on the company’s Starliner capsule, on Jan. 19, 2023, as it prepares for its first crewed flight test.
John Grant/Boeing
Boeing The company, along with NASA, announced on Thursday that it had further delayed the first crewed launch of the Starliner spacecraft after additional problems were discovered with the capsule.
The most recent Starliner crew flight test, scheduled for July 21, was supposed to send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing has identified two new issues with the Starliner: one affecting the safety of its parachute system and the other involving a specific tape that was found to be flammable.
“We decided to stop preparations for the CFT mission to correct these issues,” Boeing vice president and Starliner manager Mark Napi said at a news conference.
Nappi noted that discussions about postponing the launch went to “high levels at Boeing,” including CEO Dave Calhoun.
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The delay is the latest in a series of disruptions to Starliner’s first crewed flight. The July timeline itself is delayed from the previous April target. NASA and Boeing said Thursday that new flight targets are pending.
The company has been developing its Starliner spacecraft under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and has won nearly $5 billion in contracts to build the capsule. Boeing’s plan competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is poised to complete all six missions it initially contracted to NASA before Boeing’s first flight.
Boeing, once seen as a close match for SpaceX in the race to launch NASA astronauts, has fallen behind due to development setbacks.
Because of these delays, and the fixed-cost nature of its NASA contract, Boeing has lost a cumulative $833 million over the two-plus years of the Starliner program.
Nappi stressed Thursday that Boeing “remains committed” to completing work on the capsule and flying it for NASA.
