Boeing declared that a problem with a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank on the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket was the reason for scrapping the Starliner’s first launch.
On Wednesday, the Virginia-based business said that the Starliner and the Atlas V rocket will be returned to United Launch Alliance’s Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for maintenance.
According to Boeing, “the ULA team will carry out functional checkouts and leak checks in support of the upcoming launch attempt.” United Launch Alliance is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Boeing attributed the scrub on the valve’s “oscillating behavior.” NASA reported that when NASA astronauts Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams exited the Starliner spacecraft, ULA’s team managed to shut the valve.
But twice during the fuel removal procedures, the oscillations returned. The ULA team concluded that the valve exceeded its qualification and mission managers agreed to remove and replace it after reviewing the valve’s history, data signatures from the launch attempt, and an assessment of the risks associated with continuing usage, according to Boeing.
At 8:34 p.m. ET on Monday, NASA and Boeing decided to postpone the launch of the Atlas V rocket and the Starliner spacecraft, which were scheduled to take off from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:34 p.m. ET.
Boeing changed its original announcement that the next launch attempt would take place on Friday, May 10, to Friday, May 17, at 6:16 p.m. ET.
The two astronauts will be launched into space aboard Boeing’s Starliner for the first time ever with a crew, and they will be going to the International Space Station.