The troubled launch of the Boeing Starliner spacecraft has been delayed again

The first crewed launch of the troubled Boeing Starliner spacecraft was again delayed until May 25, this time due to a helium leak in the service module.

NASA had scheduled a May 21 launch after canceling the May 6 launch, but the helium leak was discovered Wednesday. Although the agency said the leak in the craft’s engine system was stable and would not pose a danger during flight, “Boeing teams are working to develop operational procedures to ensure the system maintains adequate performance and adequate redundancy during flight.” .

While that work continues, NASA said its Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and International Space Station Program will review data and procedures before making a final decision on whether to continue the countdown.

The delay is the latest for the first crewed Starliner mission, which will carry NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Willmore and Sunita “Sunny” Williams to the International Space Station. Astronauts are expected to spend about a week aboard the space station before landing in the southwestern United States using a parachute and an airbag.

If this mission is successful, NASA will begin the final certification process for the Starliner to return a crew to the space station.

The delay comes about a decade after NASA awarded Boeing a more than $4 billion contract as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which pays private companies to ferry astronauts to and from the space station after the space shuttle was retired in 2011.

SpaceX, which also won a $2 billion contract under the CCP initiative, has flown eight crewed missions for NASA since 2020 and four more private crewed spaceflights.

A history of delays and design issues

But the Starliner program has been plagued by delays and design problems for several years.

It failed to reach the space station on its first mission in 2019 after its on-board clock, which was set incorrectly, caused the computer to start the capsule’s engines too early. The spacecraft successfully docked with the space station during its second test flight in 2022, despite the failure of some engines during launch.

Boeing then canceled the planned launch of the Starliner’s first crewed flight last year, after company officials realized that the duct tape used on the craft to wrap hundreds of yards of wires was non-flammable and the lines connecting the capsule to the three parachutes appeared to be weaker. than expected. The launch was delayed indefinitely.

The May 6 launch was canceled due to a malfunction in the oxygen safety valve, NASA said.

Willmore and Williams remain in quarantine in Houston and will fly back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida closer to the new launch date, NASA said. The Starliner, which sits atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, remains at the Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility at the Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Boeing has faced scrutiny in the commercial aviation industry this year after a tailgate plug exploded shortly after takeoff on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Whistleblowers have since come forward with details of alleged quality control violations at the storied company, and the Federal Aviation Administration has said it is conducting an audit of Boeing’s manufacturing operations. The Department of Justice also announced that it would open a criminal investigation into the Alaska Airlines incident.

NPR’s Joe Hernandez and Jeff Brumfill reported.