Last week, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft achieved a crucial feat by delivering two astronauts to the International Space Station, but problems encountered throughout its journey into space and obstacles ahead mean that the goal of the aerospace giant to carry out routine missions remains a distant prospect.
The first crewed docking of the CST-100 Starliner capsule with two astronauts at the International Space Station on Thursday was a long-awaited safety demonstration by two audiences: NASA, which wants a second U.S. spacecraft for space travel. orbit, and the emerging market for private astronaut missions, currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule.
But before Boeing can reduce SpaceX’s hold on government and private orbital human flights, its Starliner must still meet several test targets.
“This is a crucial step, because if they can’t get humans into space and back safely, they haven’t proven what they need to do to successfully complete missions. ” said Patricia Sanders, who until February served as the longtime chair of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Group.
The crew, made up of veteran astronauts and test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, could return to Earth as early as June 14 or stay up to 45 days, according to NASA officials.
During the Starliner’s 24-hour journey to the space station, located 386 km above sea level, the teardrop-shaped craft experienced four helium leaks and five onboard thrusters failed. failure, which delayed docking with the ISS.
“Starliner made us work a little harder to dock,” Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew chief, said at a news conference Thursday evening.
Among the successes, Wilmore took manual control and tested steering, overall mission security and autonomous docking of the craft to the station. Over the next few days, Starliner will work to demonstrate that it is capable of undocking, maneuvering further, and then returning safely to Earth.
However, helium leaks and propulsion failures, while posing no danger to astronauts, according to NASA officials, are a continuing cause for concern.
Boeing first discovered a helium leak – used to add pressure to the propellant propellants – while Starliner was on the ground last month, and NASA officials believed it was a low risk for theft. NASA officials said the thruster failures appeared similar to those seen during Starliner’s uncrewed test to the ISS in 2022.
“We don’t really understand why they happen,” Mr. Stich said.
Boeing said it plans to review the design of the Starliner’s propulsion system valves after the company and NASA identified a defect in 2022. The company receives $5.5 million from NASA to study the possibility of review the Starliner’s battery design, according to federal contract records.
“If a design change proves necessary, costly and time-consuming, it could impact the company’s decision to move forward,” Sanders said.
The Starliner’s development difficulties have already cost Boeing around $1.5 billion.
The Starliner redesign could drag on if Boeing has to involve its supply chain. In 2022, Boeing and its propulsion system supplier, Aerojet Rocketdyne of L3 Harris, feuded for months over which company was responsible for defects in the Starliner’s propulsion system valves and who would pay for the redesign of the components, Reuters reported that year.
The company said it may implement this design change on a subsequent flight, until a temporary workaround is put in place.
Musk touted SpaceX as having the advantage of being more vertically integrated.
In 2019, a new valve problem on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon caused one of its spacecraft to explode during an uncrewed ground test in 2019, prompting SpaceX to review the system’s design abortion propulsion of the capsule. The revamped system carried its first crew about a year later. In 2021, the company redesigned Crew Dragon’s toilets in less than two months.
“It’s much easier to correct a design flaw or even a problem like a battery in a vertically integrated company,” said Abhi Tripathi, former director of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon mission, who was involved in the design changes of the spatialship.
NASA officials don’t yet know whether the problems that arose during the first crewed Starliner mission would warrant a new design. NASA and Boeing will spend months studying mission data and reviewing flight issues to determine whether Starliner can be certified for routine flights.
“It’s not a success until they return safely and until we understand the implications of the anomalies that occurred during the mission,” Sanders said. (Reporting by Joey Roulette; Writing by Chris Sanders, Peter Henderson and Josie Kao)
