Starliner Launch Pushed to March 2024

NASA and Boeing held a teleconference Tuesday in which it was announced that the Starliner launch has been delayed until at least March of 2024. The specific Starliner launch date will be narrowed down as more details become available.

"Not only did they redesign that particular joint but also went through and looked at all the rest of the areas on the main canopy, and the drogues … and the pilot chutes, and didn't find any other areas where we had a joint that (was) improperly designed." Steve Stich, NASA

Steve Stich, NASA

NASA and Boeing teams say they are continuing to make progress in preparing for Starliner’s first crewed flight to and from the International Space Station, but are continuing to work on two technical issues identified during the agency’s certification process to ensure the system meets crew safety requirements.

Stich: "Tremendous Progress" Made Towards Crewed Starliner Launch

NASA's Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said "tremendous progress" has been made since the last update on the Starliner launch in June, but there are still issues with the parachute softlink on the spacecraft, as well as the flammability of a particular type of tape being used.

According to Stich, the parachute softlink did not have the 2.0 safety factor required for a safety-critical system. "That has been redesigned by the team," Stich said. "They're in the middle of testing that design. They had a very productive technical interchange meeting in early July … and not only did they redesign that particular joint but also went through and looked at all the rest of the areas on the main canopy, and the drogues … and the pilot chutes, and didn't find any other areas where we had a joint that (was) improperly designed."

Stich said that the P-13 tape in question is widely used in the aerospace industry for may applications. But the entries in the NASA database "were a bit inconsistent" relative to the flammability of that tape at various levels of oxygen concentration, leading to confusion about when it could be used and when it couldn't. NASA and Boeing personnel are in the process of removing the tape from the Starliner spacecraft.

When it does finally launch, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are assigned to fly Starliner and United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station. The duo will remain docked at the orbiting laboratory for about two weeks to evaluate the new spacecraft and its systems before returning to Earth in the Western United States.

(Source: NASA. Images provided and from file)