In spite of the delays, can the Boeing Starliner achieve NASA’s certification requirements?

Sujithreddyvatti
2 min readMay 17, 2024

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The inaugural launch of Boeing Starliner was scheduled for May 7, 2024, however it was postponed due to the need to return the Atlas V rocket carrying the capsule to its hangar for the replacement of a pressure valve.

For more info click here;👉@ @vattisujith1987 | Linktree

For more info click here;👉@ @vattisujith1987 | Linktree

The Boeing Starliner, scheduled to launch NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams into orbit, has decelerated once more. The space capsule’s propulsion system malfunction caused a second delay in launch, which the firm reported earlier this week.

The inaugural launch of Boeing Starliner was scheduled for May 7, 2024, however it was postponed due to the need to return the Atlas V rocket carrying the capsule to its hangar for the replacement of a pressure valve. Then, May 17th was decided upon as the new launch date.

More delays were experienced on the second trial when a propulsion system problem emerged. According to Boeing, the Starliner crews are attempting to resolve a minor helium leak that was found in the spacecraft’s service module. The 28 control thrusters of the propulsion system, which aid in spacecraft maneuvering, had a leak that engineers discovered. The fuel that powers these thrusters is pressurized with helium.

The most recent in a string of setbacks for a program that is years behind schedule and has gone over budget by more than $1.5 billion is the delay impacting Boeing’s Starliner mission.

For for over ten years, Boeing has been developing the Starliner spacecraft. The objective is to supply NASA with a second American spacecraft that can transport occupants to and from the International Space Station (ISS), in addition to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The same NASA program was used to develop SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which flew astronauts into orbit for the first time in 2020 with success.

The Crewed Flight Test, which is under underway for Starliner, is expected to be the last flight before NASA certifies the spacecraft for regular astronaut visits to the International Space Station. This accreditation is

Before getting to this stage, Boeing needed to finish an unmanned test voyage to the International Space Station, which it did in 2022. After several years of managerial setbacks and technical issues that kept the program off course, this mission was finally launched. Hardware problems and software bugs needed to be fixed before Starliner could safely transport astronauts.

In order to give NASA’s missions flexibility and redundancy, two operating spacecraft systems — Starliner and Crew Dragon — are essential. This guarantees that in the event of a malfunction, the other system can keep up with the ISS, which is essential for maintaining human habitation in space.

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