According to the agency’s statement on Wednesday, Nasa and Boeing are proposing June 1 as the launch date of the first manned Starliner spacecraft mission. But a helium leak investigation is still being done by engineers who are also examining its potential effect on important aspects of the mission.
Starliner’s inaugural human space flight that was initially supposed to be carried out on May 7 has been delayed due to the cause of a helium leak which was traced back to a valve component of one thruster.
However, this launch has had several delays as Nasa and Boeing work towards fixing it and they also have additional tests for their craft.
In addition to this, however, engineers have recently broadened their search for the cause of leaks in order to include an evaluation of how Starliner’s propulsion system might be affected by other factors like use of helium in pressurizing fuel for its onboard thrusters during orbit alteration.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft program, designed to ferry astronauts from Nasa to ISS (International Space Station), has been continually delayed over many years with cost overruns exceeding $1.5 billion. These ongoing challenges have highlighted Boeing’s difficulties in competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX under tighter budget constraints.
The group captain named Suni Williams together with Commander Butch Wilmore will fly on Starliner’s initial manned departure testifying it fit for NASA certification allowing it regular trips between earth and space station and vice versa.
If not launched by June 1, NASA states that Boeing can try again on June 2, 5 or 6.
