The first crewed test flight of Boeing's long-delayed Starliner spacecraft won't take off as planned Saturday and could face a longer postponement as engineers evaluate a stubborn leak of helium from the capsule's propulsion system.
NASA announced the latest delay of the Starliner test flight late Tuesday. Officials will take more time to consider their options for how to proceed with the mission after discovering the small helium leak on the spacecraft's service module.
The space agency did not describe what options are on the table, but sources said they range from flying the spacecraft "as is" with a thorough understanding of the leak and confidence it won't become more significant in flight, to removing the capsule from its Atlas V rocket and taking it back to a hangar for repairs.
The former option could permit a launch attempt as soon as early June. The latter alternative could delay the launch until at least late summer.
"The team has been in meetings for two consecutive days, assessing flight rationale, system performance, and redundancy," NASA said in a statement Tuesday night. "There is still forward work in these areas, and the next possible launch opportunity is still being discussed. NASA will share more details once we have a clearer path forward."
On Wednesday evening, NASA said the earliest Starliner launch opportunity will be Saturday, June 1, with additional launch opportunities June 2, June 5, and June 6. But there's still work to do before NASA gives the green light for the Starliner launch.
"Work continues to assess Starliner performance and redundancy following the discovery of a small helium leak in the spacecraft’s service module," NASA said late Wednesday. "As part of this work, and unrelated to the current leak which remains stable, teams are in the process of completing a follow-on propulsion system assessment to understand potential helium system impacts on some Starliner return scenarios."
Senior NASA officials will convene a Flight Test Readiness Review before the next Starliner launch attempt to formally clear the spacecraft for the crewed test flight. NASA completed a similar readiness review in late April ahead of the first Starliner launch attempt May 6.