More delays and no astronauts are on the horizon for Boeing after safety issues were detected on its Starliner spacecraft.
Problems with parachute lines and flammable tape will keep a crewed flight test grounded until a minimum of March 2024, a Boeing official said Monday.
The official said removing the tape mustn’t take greater than a number of weeks, but redesigned parachutes won’t be ready until December.
If the parachutes pass their drop test at the tip of the yr, Boeing said Starliner ought to be able to carry two NASA astronauts the International Space Station (ISS) as early as March.
Nevertheless, a precise date can’t be known since the launch is conditional on an Atlas V rocket being provided for the capsule by United Launch Alliance and a gap to dock on the space station.
The delay may cause a financial headache for Boeing.
The Starliner program incurred a $257 million loss throughout the second quarter due to a previously announced launch delay for its first crewed spaceflight.
![Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000018459398.jpg?w=1024)
The capsule was scheduled to have a test flight in July with two astronauts.
Nevertheless, the test flight, already behind schedule, was halted again when final reviews uncovered issues with the parachute lines and other problems that were present on last yr’s test flight with nobody on board.
Officials said the problems must have been caught years ago.
![A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/08/NYPICHPDPICT000020211217.jpg?w=1024)
This system to this point has cost Boeing $1.4 billion.
Mark Nappi, manager for Boeing’s Industrial Crew Program, said Monday that technicians are almost halfway done peeling off the flammable tape used to guard capsule wiring.
Tape that can not be faraway from vulnerable spots shall be covered with a protective coating.
The unique guidelines for usage of the tape were confusing, in response to company and NASA officials.
Still, they later determined it couldn’t be utilized in some areas since it was flammable.
The parachute issue is an even bigger problem. The “soft links” on the parachute lines didn’t meet safety standards and appeared to have been neglected by tests years ago. The parachutes at the moment are being redesigned to repair the problem.
“There’s at all times the mystery of something else that may pop up,” Nappi told reporters. But given the present situation, “we have now a fairly good schedule laid out” to launch as early as March.
NASA is paying Boeing and SpaceX to develop spacecraft that may shuttle astronauts to and from the ISS.
SpaceX has had much more success with its Crew Dragon spacecraft, which flew its crew test flight in March 2020.
Dragon will launch its seventh operational mission in roughly two weeks. Boeing has launched only two Starliner flights with no crew aboard.
NASA has insisted on hiring two competing crew launchers for its ISS project, which can end in 2030. The federal government’s goal is to fly one Boeing and one SpaceX crew flight annually.