Boeing’s hopes to blow away some of the recent negative headlines about its brand with a historic first crewed launch of its Starliner capsule fizzled on Monday night as a problem with a valve on the rocket led to the flight being scrubbed.
The mission to carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station was called off about two hours before the scheduled liftoff due to the fault on the Atlas V rocket that was set to carry the capsule into orbit.
United Launch Alliance CEO Tony Bruno explained at a press conference that the issue with his company’s rocket related to a oxygen pressure-relief valve in the vehicle’s upper stage was opening and closing, creating a “buzzing” that had previously been noticed in earlier, uncrewed missions.
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The issue had been quickly corrected on satellite launches, he said, but the company follows stricter guidelines for astronaut flights that meant the valve couldn’t be recycled while the crew was on board. “And so we stayed with the rules and the procedures, and scrubbed as a result,” Bruno said, according to the Associated Press.
The X account of Boeing Space said a decision had been made to allow engineering teams to look through data on Tuesday “and the next launch opportunity will be no earlier than Friday, May 10.”
