The first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, known as Crew Flight Test (CFT), has been rescheduled to no earlier than mid-April 2024. NASA officials announced this delay without specifying the reason. The first operational flight of the Starliner is also postponed to early 2025 from its previous target date of summer 2024.
CFT aims to send NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) on a test mission. The delays are primarily attributed to technical issues and readiness concerns with the Starliner spacecraft.
The delays have been a setback for Boeing, which, along with SpaceX, was selected by NASA in 2014 to provide astronaut flights to and from the ISS. SpaceX has already conducted seven operational flights to the ISS, while Starliner has launched only twice, neither with crew onboard.
Starliner faced technical issues during its first mission in December 2019 and failed to reach the ISS as planned. The second mission, OFT-2, successfully reached the ISS in May 2022.
The delay in Starliner’s debut astronaut mission is due to the need to review results from CFT, incorporate lessons learned, approve final certification products, and complete readiness and certification reviews before proceeding with Starliner-1, Boeing’s first operational crewed flight to the ISS.
SpaceX’s Crew-8 mission is set to launch in mid-February 2024, followed by Crew-9 in August 2024. NASA officials also anticipate a tenth “crew rotation mission” in early 2025, which could be either SpaceX’s Crew-10 or Starliner-1.
The delays reflect the challenges and complexities of developing and launching crewed missions to the ISS and underscore the importance of ensuring safety and readiness before proceeding with human spaceflight.
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