NASA has postponed the return to Earth of Boeing’s Starliner space capsule from the International Space Station with its first crew of astronauts to allow more time for a review of technical problems.
The pair’s return was previously scheduled for June 26, having already been postponed once before from June 14.
NASA did not provide a new date, raising questions about when the mission’s two astronauts will return.
“Mission managers are evaluating future return opportunities following the station’s two planned spacewalks on June 24 and July 2,” the agency said in a statement.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, both Americans, lifted off on June 5 as a final demonstration to obtain routine flight certification from NASA.
“We are taking our time and following our standard mission management team process,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager.
“Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station,” Mr Stich said, adding that the additional time would yield “valuable insight” into system upgrades for future missions.
The crewed test of the spacecraft, which has been test-flown to space twice since 2019 without humans on board, has experienced five failures of its 28 manoeuvring thrusters, five leaks of helium meant to pressurise those thrusters, and a slow-moving propellant valve that signalled unfixed issues from the past.
The issues and the additional tests NASA and Boeing have had to do call into question when exactly Starliner will be able to fly its crew home, and add to a list of broader problems Boeing faces with its Starliner program.
The company has spent $US1.5 billion ($2.2 billion) in cost overruns, on top of its $4.5 billion ($6.7 billion) NASA development contract.
NASA wants Starliner to become the second US spacecraft capable of ferrying its astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has been the agency’s primary ride since 2020.
Extract ABC News