Starliner Manned Mission Launch Delayed Due to Rocket Problems

The launch of the Starliner capsule on Tuesday (7/5/2024) morning was postponed due to problems with the launch rocket, Atlas V.

AFP/MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO

The United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V rocket is located at Space Launch Complex 41 at the US Airforce Base, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States on May 5, 2024. The Boeing Starliner manned spacecraft was scheduled to launch on May 6, 2024, but was delayed due to issues with its launch rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, MONDAY — The launch of the Starliner manned vehicle on Tuesday (7/5/2024) morning was postponed due to problems with the launcher rocket being used, the Atlas V. The next launch time has not been confirmed, but Starliner will have to wait at least one night before it can be launched again.

Initially, Boeing's Starliner capsule was scheduled to launch on Monday (May 6, 2024) from the United States space base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 10:34 PM local time or Tuesday (May 7, 2024) at 9:34 AM WIB. This will be the first manned flight test mission for Starliner.

The Starliner test mission will carry two American astronauts, namely Barry "Butch" Wilmore (61) as flight commander and astronaut Sunita "Sunni" Williams (58) as flight pilot.

Although the vehicle can fly autonomously, both of them are needed to thoroughly test the system in Starliner, including manual flight.

Also read: Starliner Capsule Ready to Launch into Space

The two astronauts will embark on a space mission for 10 days. They will need approximately 26 hours to fly to the International Space Station (ISS).

AP PHOTO/JOHN RAOUX

NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore (left) and Suni Williams left the operations and inspection building before heading to Launch Complex 41 to board the Boeing Starliner capsule atop the Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Station, Florida, United States on Monday (5/6/2024).

Next, they will reside in the ISS that orbits the Earth at an altitude of approximately 400 kilometers for a week. After that, they will return using the Starliner to go back to Earth and are expected to land in the southwestern desert of the US.

Causes of delays

The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in its X account said the cancellation of the Starliner's debut was due to problems with the Atlas V rocket used. The oxygen release valve on the upper part of the rocket called Centaur was not functioning normally.

The Atlas V launch rocket is produced by the United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint company between Lockheed Martin Corporation and Boeing Company. The rocket has been used for various payloads since 2002 with a success rate of 100 percent.

However, this Starliner launch was the Atlas V's first manned launch.

"The technical team's evaluation found that the launch rocket was not in a condition that allowed it to continue the flight," said one of the officials in the launch control room in a press release on NASA Television as quoted by Space, Monday (6/5/2024). The announcement was made 2 hours 1 minute before the scheduled launch.

TANGKAPAN LAYAR BOEING/SPACE

Illustration of Boeing's Starliner space capsule orbiting Earth.

The exact date of the new Starliner launch has not been announced. However, the remaining launch window for Starliner is between Tuesday (7/5/2024) and Friday (10/5/2024).

Also read: Boeing Manned Capsule Launch Trial to the Space Station

Although the Atlas V launch rocket will only be used for the first time to send humans into space, this rocket family has been used to transport astronauts into space for decades.

The technical team's evaluation found that the launch rocket was not in a condition that would allow it to continue flying.

Finally, the Atlas rocket family used to send humans into outer space consisted of the Atlas LV-3B rocket that carried the Faith 7 spacecraft on May 15, 1963.

The Atlas V rocket is a two-stage rocket. The lower rocket or booster rocket is powered by two RD-180 rocket engines.

The main propulsion rocket will be supported by two solid booster rockets (SRBs), which are smaller rockets that use solid fuel or oxidizers. Meanwhile, the upper rocket called Centaur is powered by a pair of RL-10A rocket engines.

Meanwhile, the Starliner spacecraft carrying astronauts is placed at the top of the launching rocket. The total height between the main booster rocket, Centaur, and Starliner is 52.4 meters.

AFP/GETTY IMAGES/JOE RAEDLE

People cheered as the vehicle carrying the Boeing NASA flight test commander Buth Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams drove away from the operations and inspection building on May 6th, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States.

The launch of the Starliner this time will be the third flight mission of the Starliner. In 2019, the first unmanned test flight of the Starliner failed to complete its mission to reach the ISS due to software issues.

Starliner's next launch in 2022 successfully meets all major manned flight standards from NASA or Boeing.

However, after the discovery of the easily flammable nature of the adhesive tape used in some of Starliner's internal cables, the launch of the manned mission continued to be postponed. Now, when the time awaited for Starliner to undergo its manned mission debut, its launch rocket is instead experiencing problems.

NASA hopes that Starliner can be used to send spacecraft commercially to the ISS starting next year.

Also read: Vacations to Space are Getting Closer

Although there is now SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft that NASA relies on for manned mission deliveries to the ISS starting in 2020, NASA still wants two spacecraft that can be launched to the ISS from US soil.

Thus, the US dependency on other countries' spacecraft for sending their astronauts to the ISS, such as the use of Russia's Soyuz spacecraft between 2011-2020, will no longer occur.