The crew could return to Earth as early as June 14 or stay there for 45 days
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft achieved a crucial feat last week with the delivery of two astronauts to the International Space Station, but problems encountered during its journey into space and more hurdles ahead are pushing the aerospace giant's goal to the limit. area of routine missions a distant prospect.
The first crewed docking of the CST-100 Starliner capsule carrying two astronauts to the International Space Station on Thursday marked a long-sought safety demonstration for two audiences: NASA, which wants a second U.S. spacecraft for rides to Earth orbit, and the emerging market for private astronaut missions currently dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule.
But before Boeing can wrest SpaceX's grip on government and private human spaceflight, its Starliner must still reach a number of test goals.
“It's a critical step because if they can't get people to space and bring them back safely, then they haven't proven what they need to do to accomplish missions,” said Patricia Sanders, who served until February was in charge of the mission. long-time chairman of NASA's 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 there for 45 days, NASA officials said.
During Starliner's 24-hour journey to reach the space station orbiting some 240 miles (386 km) above Earth, the gumdrop-shaped spacecraft suffered four helium leaks and five onboard thrusters failed, delaying docking with the ISS.
“Starliner made us work a little harder to get docked,” Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew chief, told a news conference Thursday evening.
But some of the accomplishments include Wilmore taking over manual control and testing the controls, overall mission safety and the autonomously docked vessel on station. In the coming days, Starliner will try to show that it can undock, do more maneuvering and then return safely to Earth.
Still, helium leaks and propulsion failures, while there is no danger to the astronauts, are a nagging concern, according to NASA officials.
Boeing first discovered a leak of helium – used to pressurize thruster propellants – while Starliner was on the ground last month, and NASA officials deemed it a low risk to the flight. NASA officials said the thruster failures appeared similar to those found in Starliner's 2022 unmanned test with the ISS.
“We don't really understand why they happen,” Stich said.
Boeing has said it plans to redesign the valves on Starliner's propulsion system after the company and NASA discovered a flaw in 2022. And the company will receive $5.5 million from NASA to study the potential redesign of Starliner's batteries, according to federal contract records.
“If they had something that required a design change that would be expensive and time-consuming, it could impact their business decision to move forward,” Sanders said.
Starliner's development problems have already cost Boeing about $1.5 billion.
The Starliner redesign could play out if Boeing has to involve its supply chain. In 2022, Boeing and its propulsion system supplier, L3 Harris' Aerojet Rocketdyne, had been feuding for months over which company was responsible for defects in Starliner's propulsion system valves and who would pay for the component redesign, Reuters reported that year.
The company said it may implement the design change on a later flight while a workaround is in place.
Musk has boasted that SpaceX has an edge because it is more vertically integrated.
A new valve problem on SpaceX's Crew Dragon in 2019 caused one of its spacecraft to explode during an unmanned ground test in 2019, prompting SpaceX to redesign the capsule's propulsion system. The redesigned system flew with its first crew about a year later. And the company redesigned Crew Dragon's toilet in less than two months in 2021.
“Fixing a design flaw or even something of concern, like a battery, is much, much easier in a vertically integrated company,” said Abhi Tripathi, former SpaceX Crew Dragon mission director who was involved in the spacecraft design changes.
It is not yet clear to NASA officials whether the problems encountered during Starliner's first crewed mission warrant a redesign. NASA and Boeing will spend months reviewing mission data and investigating the flight issues to determine whether Starliner can be certified for routine flights.
“It's not a success until they return safely and until we understand the implications of any anomalies that occurred during the mission,” Sanders said.
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