By Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft scored a crucial milestone last week with the delivery of two astronauts to the International Space Station, but problems encountered along its journey into space and more obstacles ahead make the goal of aerospace giant away from routine missions. perspective.
The first manned docking of the CST-100 Starliner capsule with two astronauts to the International Space Station on Thursday marked a safety demonstration long sought by two audiences: NASA, which wants a second U.S. spacecraft for orbit rides, and the nascent market for private astronauts. missions that are currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule.
But before Boeing can loosen SpaceX’s control over private and government human orbital spaceflight, its Starliner has several other test goals to achieve.
“It’s a critical step, because if they can’t transport human beings into space and return them safely, then they haven’t proven what they need to do to carry out any missions,” said Patricia Sanders, who until February was the longtime president. of the NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel.
The crew — veteran astronauts and test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — could return to Earth as early as June 14 or stay for up to 45 days, NASA officials said.
During Starliner’s 24-hour journey to reach the space station orbiting about 240 miles (386 km) above, the teardrop-shaped spacecraft experienced four helium leaks and had five onboard thrusters stall, delaying its docking with the ISS.
“Starliner made us work a little harder to dock,” NASA commercial crew chief Steve Stich said at a news conference Thursday night.
But some achievements include Wilmore taking manual control and testing the steering, the overall safety of the mission, and the spacecraft docking autonomously with the station. In the coming days, Starliner will aim to show that it can undock, maneuver further and then return safely to Earth.
Still, helium leaks and propulsion failures, while posing no danger to astronauts, NASA officials said, are a nagging concern.
Boeing first found a helium leak — used to add pressure to the booster’s thrusters — while the Starliner was on the ground last month, and NASA officials deemed it low-risk for the flight. NASA officials said the thruster failures appeared similar to those found in the 2022 unmanned Starliner test to the ISS.
“We don’t quite understand why this is happening,” Stich said.
Boeing said it plans to redesign the valves in the Starliner’s propulsion system after the company and NASA identified a flaw in 2022. And the company is receiving $5.5 million from NASA to study the potential redesign of the Starliner’s batteries, according to federal contract records.
“If they had something that required a design change that was expensive and time-consuming, that could impact their business decision to move forward,” Sanders said.
The Starliner’s development challenges have already cost Boeing about $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, fought for months over which company was responsible for defects in Starliner’s propulsion system valves and who would pay for redesigning the components, Reuters reported that year. .
The company said it may implement this design change on a later flight while a temporary solution is in place.
Musk has boasted that SpaceX has the advantage of being more vertically integrated.
A new valve problem on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in 2019 caused one of its spacecraft to explode during an uncrewed ground test in 2019, prompting SpaceX to redesign the capsule’s abort propulsion system. The redesigned system carried its first crew about a year later. And the company in 2021 redesigned the Crew Dragon’s bathroom in less than two months.
“Fixing a design flaw or even something worrisome like a battery is much, much easier at a vertically integrated company,” said Abhi Tripathi, former SpaceX Crew Dragon mission director who was involved in the spacecraft’s design changes.
It remains unclear to NASA officials whether problems that occurred during Starliner’s first manned mission would warrant redesigns. NASA and Boeing will spend months reviewing mission data and examining flight issues to determine whether Starliner can be certified for routine flights.
“It will not be a success until they return safely and until we understand the implications of any anomalies that occurred during the mission,” Sanders said.
(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Chris Sanders, Peter Henderson and Josie Kao)
