First crewed launch of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft scrubbed as another delay hits historic mission

By James Rogers

The Boeing Starliner launch was scrubbed just minutes before the spacecraft's scheduled liftoff time Saturday

The launch of Boeing Co.'s Starliner was scrubbed just minutes before what would have been the first crewed flight of the spacecraft Saturday, marking the latest in a series of delays for the historic mission.

The spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, was scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 12:25 p.m. Eastern time. But a computer-controlled hold was implemented at T-minus 3 minutes and 50 seconds and the launch was subsequently scrubbed. The launch was scrubbed due to "the computer ground launch sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count," wrote NASA on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The ULA team is working to understand the cause," NASA added.

The initial launch attempt on May 6 was scrubbed two hours before it was scheduled to liftoff due to concerns over an oxygen release valve on the Atlas V. The launch was then targeted for May 17 to enable a valve replacement, before being pushed back to May 21 to allow additional testing. Then NASA pushed the launch back to no earlier than May 25 before another delay.

Related: Boeing's first crewed Starliner launch pushed back again, next possible opportunity 'still being discussed'

The first crewed Starliner mission has faced a number of delays in recent years, so Saturday's launch marked an important milestone for NASA, Boeing (BA) and their partners. The launch is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which partners with the private space industry in the U.S. to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

ULA was set up as a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) in 2006. Since then, the company's Delta and Atlas rockets have been used to send more than 150 missions into orbit.

In 2019, an uncrewed Starliner made its first test flight to the ISS, but docking with the space station was canceled because of an incorrectly set clock on the capsule. The second uncrewed flight test, Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2, successfully reached the International Space Station and returned to Earth in 2022.

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Boeing (BA) shares ended Friday's session up 2.8% and Lockheed Martin (LMT) shares were up 2%.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is also working closely with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The company's Crew Dragon spacecraft has flown several crewed missions to the International Space Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The Crew-8 mission, which launched March 3, 2024, is SpaceX's eighth crew-rotation mission and its ninth flight with astronauts, including the Demo-2 mission in May 2020.

SpaceX launched the third flight test of its giant Starship and Super Heavy rocket in March. The uncrewed Starship successfully achieved orbital insertion, coasted into space and re-entered Earth's atmosphere before SpaceX lost contact with the spacecraft.

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The largest rocket ever built, Starship provides more than twice the thrust of the Saturn V rockets that took astronauts to the moon. Together, Starship and the Super Heavy rocket are 396 feet high, taller than the Statue of Liberty or NASA's Saturn V rocket.

Starship is designed to play a key role in returning humans to the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program, as well as in future Mars exploration. The spacecraft and rocket - collectively referred to as "Starship" and designed to carry both crew and cargo - can carry up to 150 metric tons fully reusable and 250 metric tons expendable, according to SpaceX.

-James Rogers

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06-01-24 1349ET

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