CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Boeing will delay the first launch of its Starliner spacecraft until August "to avoid unnecessary schedule pressure," company officials confirmed to News 6.
The first test flight of the commercial astronaut capsule to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral was slated for this month but will now happen no earlier than August.
Starliner’s test flight on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will not have a crew. Pending the outcome of that flight, a second test flight will include NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Mike Fincke and Boeing test pilot Chris Ferguson, a former NASA astronaut.
A Boeing spokesperson said in an email to News 6 that the Starliner team recently cleared several major test milestones ahead of the planned crewless flight but due to a short launch window that could lead to a conflict in scheduling the eastern range and to avoid adding additional pressure, the company decided to push the launch date back.
“However, we have only a two-day launch window available in May before we must clear the launch pad to allow for an on-time launch of the U.S. Air Force’s AEHF-5 mission,” a statement from Boeing said.
ULA will launch the Air Force's fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite later this summer from Space Launch Complex 41, the same pad Starliner will liftoff from.
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“In order to avoid unnecessary schedule pressure, not interfere with a critical national security payload, and allow appropriate schedule margin to ensure the Boeing, United Launch Alliance and NASA teams are able to perform a successful first launch of Starliner, we made the most responsible decision available to us and will be ready for the next launch pad availability in August, while still allowing for a Crew Flight Test later this year," the statement from Boeing said.
The delay will push the first Starliner test flight with NASA astronauts on board to later this year. The first crewed flight will depend on how well the first test launch, docking and return go.
NASA said in a news release Wednesday that Starliner's first docking at the space station will also be extended. The exact length of the stay is to be determined.
“NASA’s assessment of extending the mission was found to be technically achievable without compromising the safety of the crew,” said NASA's director of the commercial spaceflight division, Phil McAlister. “Commercial crew flight tests, along with the additional Soyuz opportunities, help us transition with greater flexibility to our next-generation commercial systems under the Commercial Crew Program.”
In 2014, NASA awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing to develop spacecraft to launch U.S. astronauts. Boeing received $4.2 billion to build the CST-100 spacecraft and SpaceX received $2.6 billion to build its Dragon V2 spacecraft, or Crew Dragon.
SpaceX successfully launched the Crew Dragon on its first crewless flight to and from the International Space Station in March. The company is now is preparing the same spacecraft for an in-flight abort test, according to NASA.
A second test flight with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on board is slated for July.
“SpaceX is on track for a test of Crew Dragon’s in-flight abort capabilities in June and hardware readiness for Crew Dragon’s second demonstration mission to the Space Station in July," a spokesperson for SpaceX said in an email to News 6.
It's possible more test flight dates may shift. NASA officials said they will update the targeted commercial crew launch dates in the next couple weeks.