The launch of the Boeing’s first manned space mission was canceled this Monday when there were about two hours left for takeoff for the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveralin Florida (USA).
The reason for the cancellation is due to failures in one of the valves of the launch rocket. Atlas Vfrom the private firm United Launch Alliance (ULA), on which the ship is mounted Starliner of Boeingreported the POT.
The decision to cancel this Monday’s takeoff was made by the launch manager from ULA, Tom Hetter IIIand, according to the US space agency, the teams will check one of the oxygen valves of the Atlas Vwhere apparently the origin of the technical failure lies.
“NASA’s first priority is safety. We will go when we are ready“said the administrator of the POT, Bill Nelsonwho confirmed the cancellation in this way.
The Starliner was scheduled to take off this Monday night at 10:34 p.m. local time (2:34 GMT on Wednesday), from a launch complex of the Space Force Station of Cape Canaveralwith the astronauts of the POT on board, Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
Not even POT nor the private firm have announced at the moment a possible new release date.
The mission Boeing CFT (Crew Flight Test) aims to achieve the necessary certifications of the POT to be able to begin operating as the second provider of crew and cargo transportation to the so-called orbital laboratory, a service that the firm has already officially provided since 2020 SpaceX.
The American space agency has given Boeing from 2014 to date about 4.2 billion dollars to achieve this goal, and therefore expectations were considerable today in Cape Canaveral.
In that same period of time, SpaceX received 2.6 billion dollars and its capsule Dragon has already had more than a dozen flights to ISSsome differences alluded to by its executive president, the magnate Elon Muskwho in a message in xhours before the scheduled takeoff, launched a probable explanation: “Too many non-technical managers at Boeing”.
The cancellation adds to a series of setbacks that the Starlinerwho managed to fly to the ISS on a first test mission, without a crew in May 2022, after two failed attempts in 2019 and 2021.
Facing your first manned mission there have been no shortage of setbacks Boeingwhich had scheduled the launch of this mission for July 21, 2023, but the discovery of failures in the parachute system and in some fiberglass insulating tapes forced its postponement with a month and a half left.
“I can say with complete confidence that the teams have absolutely done their due diligence,” he said last week. James Freeassociate administrator of the POTduring a teleconference in which he made clear his confidence in the success of the mission that was to have taken off today.
Free added that the CFT It is a test flight and, therefore, astronauts and controllers anticipated that unforeseen events would arise.
(With information from EFE)
