Friday launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule delayed
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The launch of a United Launch Alliance rocket carrying Boeing's Starliner capsule has met another setback.
Friday's planned launch has been delayed due to a "situation onboard the International Space Station," ULA tweeted late Thursday afternoon.
"The combined NASA, Boeing and ULA teams are working to determine the next launch attempt," the tweet read.
Boeing's Starliner capsule was rolled out to its launchpad at Kennedy Space Center earlier Thursday, a day after being delayed due to an internet issue that came up on Wednesday.
Friday's launch was scheduled for 2:53 p.m. ET at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41. It was to be an instantaneous launch window.
NASA said the delay was related to the recent arrival of a new module at the ISS.
"NASA and Boeing have decided to stand down from Friday’s launch attempt of the agency’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Currently, launch teams are assessing the next available opportunity. The move allows the International Space Station team time to continue working checkouts of the newly arrived Roscosmos’ Nauka module and to ensure the station will be ready for Starliner’s arrival," NASA posted on its website.
NASA spokesperson Kyle Herring said the internet issues on Wednesday prevented the rollout because they needed the communication between their engineers to execute the rollout smoothly.
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This is Boeing's second orbital flight test. A failed mission to the International Space Station in 2019 created a lot of disappointment. Herring said delays are not important in the grand scheme of things, as long as the overall mission is successful.
"One of the big things to always consider is flexibility, and one thing when it comes to preparing for launches is we build in here and there some time -- slack if you will. In the event that we run into any kind of problems, we still have the flexibility to meet the launch."
NASA said another opportunity for launch will likely be next week, either Tuesday or Wednesday.
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