NASA is delaying its subsequent crew launch to purchase extra time to repair Boeing’s troubled House Station capsule

The area company mentioned Tuesday it’s bumping SpaceX’s four-person flight from this month to subsequent. It’s now focused for Sept. 24 on the earliest. Officers mentioned that can give them extra time to investigate thruster and leak issues that hit Boeing’s Starliner capsule after its June liftoff, its first with a crew on board.

Tuesday marked the two-month level on the area station for Starliner’s check pilots, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who ought to have been again by mid-June. NASA is weighing all its choices for returning the 2 veteran astronauts, together with a experience residence in a SpaceX capsule.

“NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return,” NASA mentioned in a press release. Additional particulars had been anticipated at a information convention set for Wednesday.

Solely two docking ports on the area station can accommodate U.S. astronaut capsules and, proper now, each are occupied. So one will must be vacated earlier than the subsequent SpaceX crew can arrive. Russia has its personal parking locations for its Soyuz capsules.

The most recent setback means the 4 astronauts who flew up with SpaceX in March now additionally face an extended mission than deliberate.

Over the previous a number of weeks, Boeing has carried out thruster check firings on the bottom in addition to in area to higher perceive why 5 thrusters failed forward of Starliner’s June 6 arrival on the area station. All however one got here again on-line. Helium leaks within the capsule’s propulsion system additionally cropped up.

Citing the testing, the corporate late final week mentioned: “Boeing remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew.”

Boeing and SpaceX topped NASA’s listing for astronaut taxi service to and from the area station, after the shuttles retired in 2011. NASA signed contracts price billions with each firms to be able to have a backup in case one in all them bought sidelined by an accident.

SpaceX launched its first crew in 2020; the upcoming flight will probably be its tenth astronaut flight for NASA. It’s additionally despatched just a few personal crews into orbit.

Boeing has needed to overcome a number of Starliner issues over time. The corporate needed to launch an empty Starliner twice earlier than committing to a crew, repeating the preliminary flight check due to unhealthy software program and different points. The delays have value the corporate greater than $1 billion.