In this handout provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on board is illuminated by searchlights on the launch pad at Space Launch Elaborate 41 in front of a NASA Boeing crew. Flight test conducted on 4 May 2024 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Joel Kowsky | NASA | Leaflet | Getty Images
Boeing and NASA continue work to launch the Starliner capsule, which has American astronauts on board for the first time, despite a “stable” leak in the spacecraft’s propulsion system.
“We are comfortable with the causes we have identified for this particular leak,” Mark Nappi, Boeing vice president and manager of the Commercial Crew program, said at a news conference Friday.
“We know we can handle it [leak]so it’s not really a flight safety issue,” Nappi added.
Boeing is currently planning the first crewed launch of its spacecraft for June 1, with backup options on June 2, 5 and 6.
The mission, known as the Starliner Crew Flight Test, is intended to serve as the capsule’s last major development test of delivering a pair of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station and back before routine missions.
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The debut of the Starliner crew has been delayed for years because SpaceX’s competing Dragon capsule has been flying regularly for NASA since 2020 as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew program. So far, Boeing has absorbed $1.5 billion in costs due to the Starliner failures, as well as nearly $5 billion in NASA development funds.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft seen before docking with the International Space Station on May 20, 2022, during the uncrewed OFT-2 mission.
Boeing
NASA and Boeing canceled the May 6 launch attempt about two hours before liftoff because of a discovered problem with the Atlas V rocket that will carry Starliner into orbit. The Atlas V is built and operated by United Launch Alliance, or ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and LockheedMartin.
During Friday’s news conference, a ULA official noted that the rocket’s problematic valve was replaced a week after the launch was postponed.
However, after the launch attempt was canceled, a “compact” helium leak was identified from the Starliner, causing Boeing and NASA to begin a modern assessment of the capsule and its safety for the mission. NASA Deputy Administrator Ken Bowersox, one of the agency’s top officials, explained to the press on Friday that “it took some time before we were ready to discuss” the helium leak problem.
“It’s so complicated. There are so many things happening. We really just had to get through it as a team,” Bowersox said.
After analysis, NASA and Boeing believe the source of the leak is a gasket in one of the flanges of the spacecraft’s helium propulsion system. During the tests rescheduled for May 6, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said teams “observed that the degree of leakage did not change.”
Stich explained that the plan is to monitor the leak before launch and then reassess the leak rate once it reaches the International Space Station.
“We don’t expect a second one [seals] leak and I think we have that confidence,” Stich said.
Stich also emphasized that NASA has “flew vehicles with minor helium leaks before,” including “several cases” from SpaceX’s Space Shuttle and Dragon missions.
NASA, Boeing and ULA will conduct another assessment on May 29 to check for the leak. They plan to bring the rocket and capsule to the launch pad on May 30 for a June 1 test.
