Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed at last minute
launch countdown for Boeing's new Starliner space capsule on its inaugural crewed test flight was halted on Saturday for the second time in weeks due to an unspecified technical issue, postponing the mission for at least another 24 hours.
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The CST-200 Starliner's first voyage carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) has been highly anticipated and much-delayed as Boeing scrambles to gain a greater share of the lucrative NASA business now dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
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The gumdrop-shaped Starliner capsule had stood poised for blastoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop an Atlas V rocket furnished by United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture.
But less than four minutes prior to liftoff, a ground system computer triggered an automatic abort command that paused the countdown clock, according to mission officials.
It was not immediately clear why the abort command was activated or how long the underlying issue would take to address. But the next available launch window for the mission is Sunday at about noon local time, followed by two more opportunities on Wednesday and Thursday.
The first attempt by Boeing to send an uncrewed Starliner to the space station in 2019 failed due to software and engineering glitches. A second try in 2022 succeeded, paving the way for efforts at getting the first crewed test mission off the ground.
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