Tag: Starliner
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First crewed mission of Boeing’s Starliner capsule rescheduled amid troubleshooting
Boeing’s Starliner space capsule sits atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket during preparations for launch. (ULA Photo) Update: Mission managers say they are evaluating plans for the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner space taxi and are working toward a launch opportunity on June 1. An initial attempt to send the gumdrop-shaped…
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The first crew launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule remains on hold
The first crewed test flight of Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner spacecraft won’t take off as planned Saturday and could face a longer postponement as engineers evaluate a stubborn leak of helium from the capsule’s propulsion system. NASA announced the latest delay of the Starliner test flight late Tuesday. Officials will take more time to consider their…
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NASA, Boeing further delay Starliner Crew Flight Test launch amid ongoing helium leak review
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 N22 rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on top as seen the day before its planned May 6 launch. A problematic valve caused the mission to scrub two hours before liftoff. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Ongoing analysis of a helium leak on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft forced NASA and Boeing…
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Rocket Report: Starship stacked; Georgia shuts the door on Spaceport Camden
Welcome to Edition 6.44 of the Rocket Report! Kathy Lueders, general manager of SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility, says the company expects to receive an FAA launch license for the next Starship test flight shortly after Memorial Day. It looks like this rocket could fly in late May or early June, about two-and-a-half months after the…
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Boeing is troubleshooting a small helium leak on the Starliner spacecraft
Boeing is taking a few extra days to resolve a small helium leak on the Starliner spacecraft slated to ferry two NASA astronauts on a test flight to the International Space Station, officials said Tuesday. This means the first crew launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, running years behind schedule and more than $1.4 billion over…
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Atlas 5 valve repair will delay Starliner’s first crewed mission to May 17 at the earliest
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 N22 rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on top as seen the day before its planned May 6 launch. A problematic valve in the Centaur upper stage of the rocket caused the mission to scrub two hours before liftoff. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is going to…
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Launch Roundup: Boeing Starliner delayed and China launches new rocket variant
This week was expected to see the maiden launches of two new spacecraft: Boeing’s crewed Starliner spacecraft and the first Chang Zheng 6C rocket from China. The launch of Starliner’s Crewed Flight Test (CFT) mission will be the first crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since the Apollo era, as well as the…
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Faulty valve scuttles Starliner’s first crew launch
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams climbed into their seats inside Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Monday night in Florida, but trouble with the capsule’s Atlas V rocket kept the commercial ship’s long-delayed crew test flight on the ground. Around two hours before launch time, shortly after 8:30 pm EDT (00:30 UTC), United Launch Alliance’s launch team stopped…
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SpaceX got the fanfare, but Boeing’s first crew flight is still historic
If you want to know what it’s like to take a new spacecraft on its first test run in orbit, there are only three people in the Western world you can call. That fact should drive home the rarity of debuting a new human-rated spaceship. When Boeing’s Starliner capsule lifts off Monday night, this group…
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The surprise is not that Boeing lost commercial crew but that it finished at all
NASA’s senior leaders in human spaceflight gathered for a momentous meeting at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, almost exactly 10 years ago. These were the people who, for decades, had developed and flown the Space Shuttle. They oversaw the construction of the International Space Station. Now, with the shuttle’s retirement, these princely figures in…