Photo: Boeing via Spaceflight Now
After taking a lot of heat over the past month following the crash of the Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max, American aerospace company Boeing is allegedly encountering problems with its space exploration efforts as well.
In early March, SpaceX successfully launched and landed the Crew Dragon, the first commercially-built and operated American crew spacecraft to take off from American soil.
The SpaceX mission was supposed to be followed by the launch of Boeing’s Starliner sometime in April, but new reports say the departure of the capsule has been delayed, possibly until August.
According to Chron.com, there’s no official position explaining the alleged delay, but sources say the decision could have something to do with safety concerns raised by the American Space Agency and still unaddressed by Boeing.
The April flight was to be an uncrewed one, with the first mission with humans on board scheduled for August. The delay of the April launch means the crewed mission will not happen sooner than November 2019.
Together with the Crew Dragon and NASA’s own Orion capsule, the Starliner forms the new spaceship trinity in NASA’s arsenal.
Starliner is similar in size to the Orion, measuring 4.56 meters (15.0 ft) in diameter and is compatible with a wider range of launch rockets, including SpaceX’s Falcon, the Atlas V, Delta IV and the future Vulcan. The now delayed test flight is supposed to take place with the help of an Atlas V rocket.
A crew of up to seven people can enter the Starliner, or five should the mission require supplies to be carried to the International Space Station, for instance.
In what will be a premiere for the American space program, the Starliner will be capable of landing on solid soil rather than on water, helping cut the cost of retrieving the capsule and its occupants.
The Starliner is supposed to be used up to ten times before replacing.
The SpaceX mission was supposed to be followed by the launch of Boeing’s Starliner sometime in April, but new reports say the departure of the capsule has been delayed, possibly until August.
According to Chron.com, there’s no official position explaining the alleged delay, but sources say the decision could have something to do with safety concerns raised by the American Space Agency and still unaddressed by Boeing.
The April flight was to be an uncrewed one, with the first mission with humans on board scheduled for August. The delay of the April launch means the crewed mission will not happen sooner than November 2019.
Together with the Crew Dragon and NASA’s own Orion capsule, the Starliner forms the new spaceship trinity in NASA’s arsenal.
Starliner is similar in size to the Orion, measuring 4.56 meters (15.0 ft) in diameter and is compatible with a wider range of launch rockets, including SpaceX’s Falcon, the Atlas V, Delta IV and the future Vulcan. The now delayed test flight is supposed to take place with the help of an Atlas V rocket.
A crew of up to seven people can enter the Starliner, or five should the mission require supplies to be carried to the International Space Station, for instance.
In what will be a premiere for the American space program, the Starliner will be capable of landing on solid soil rather than on water, helping cut the cost of retrieving the capsule and its occupants.
The Starliner is supposed to be used up to ten times before replacing.
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