Another Delay for Starliner

 NASA’s shuttle program ended in 2011, and when that happened we had a dependence on Russian Soyuz rockets to send American astronauts onto the ISS. Rising costs and not being able to control what went up aboard the ISS was the final straw for NASA. So in 2014, NASA created the Commercial Crew Program. The program would fund companies to build transportation systems to send astronauts to the ISS. NASA awarded the contracts to SpaceX and  Boeing. SpaceX developex the Falcon 9 and the Crew Dragon capsule, and are already a certified launcher. To learn more about this, check out the articles that I have written on SpaceX. Boeing on the other hand hasn’t been as successful. 

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner Waiting on 
Launchpad Ahead of Aug. 3 Test

Starliner has not been able to carry astronauts because they haven’t been able to successfully complete an uncrewed flight to the ISS. Starliner’s first test, Orbital Flight Test 1 (OFT-1), was on 19 December 2019, but was unsuccessful due to the orbital insertion burn firing the wrong amount, causing the Starliner capsule to be stuck in the wrong  orbit for three days.

Render of Starliner Service Module

The Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) was originally scheduled to occur on August 3, 2021. However, pre launch tests revealed that there were 13 stuck valves in the Starliner’s service module. This pushed back the launch all the way into next  year. The new launch window for OFT-2 is in the first half of 2022. Obviously, this is dependent on the hardware readiness of Starliner. 

The Commercial Crew Program is a big deal, and so far, SpaceX has a dominant lead over Boeing. To learn more about this program, the competition between Boeing and SpaceX, and why SpaceX so far has been dominating, check out the video below.

Sources:

“Boeing Starliner.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Starliner#Testing. 

Petrova, Magdalena, director. How SpaceX Beat Boeing In The Race To Launch NASA Astronauts. Youtube, CNB, 29 July 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnewZrf7v5U. Accessed 10 Oct. 2021. 

Wall, Mike. “Boeing's next Starliner Test Launch for NASA Slips to 2022.” Space.com, Space, 9 Oct. 2021, https://www.space.com/boeing-starliner-test-flight-oft-2-early-2022.