Two astronauts must be transported to the International Space Station.
The first manned flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule will take place no earlier than Friday, NASA said, after a planned Monday evening launch was canceled following a valve failure on the Atlas V rocket which should propel the capsule into orbit.
A team from United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin and manufacturer of Atlas V, worked through the night to test the valve and assess the severity of the situation.
This maiden voyage, which will carry two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), has been repeatedly delayed as Boeing seeks to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a larger share of NASA’s lucrative market.
Years of failure
Boeing is also in the midst of a crisis after several in-flight incidents on 737 MAX planes.
Getting the Starliner to this point has been a delicate process, marked by years of development failures and more than $1.5 billion in spending under a $4.2 billion contract with the NASA.
Depending on the results of upcoming tests, Starliner is expected to carry out at least six more manned missions to the space station for NASA
