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| The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, atop an ULA Atlas V rocket, flies during an uncrewed Orbital Flight Test to the International Space Station from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as seen from Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, Florida |
Boeing Co launched its new astronaut capsule on an unmanned debut journey to the International Space Station on Friday, but the capsule had not yet reached the orbit required for it to get to the station, the company and US space agency Nasa said.
The mission by Boeing‘s CST-100 Starliner astronaut capsule is a milestone test for the US aerospace firm, which is vying with SpaceX to revive Nasa’s human spaceflight capabilities.
The Starliner was not yet in the desired orbit after its launch earlier from Cape Canaveral in Florida, a Boeing spokeswoman said.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a tweet that Starliner was in a stable orbit but that the burn needed for a rendezvous with the space station had not taken place. Flight controllers were assessing the next steps, he said.
“Boeing and Nasa are working together to review options for the test and mission opportunities available while the Starliner remains in orbit,” Boeing said in a statement.
The spacecraft, a cone-shaped pod with seven astronaut seats, blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 6:36am (1136 GMT) atop an Atlas V rocket from Boeing-Lockheed Martin Corp’s United Launch Alliance.
Minutes after liftoff, Starliner detached from the main rocket booster, aiming for a rendezvous some 254 miles (40 km) into space on Saturday morning with the International Space Station.
Some 31 minutes after liftoff, the craft was supposed to fire its thrusters to raise it to the intended orbit, but it did not do so because of “off-nominal” conditions, a Boeing spokesman said.
Both Boeing and Nasa said that while the capsule had not reached the intended orbit it was in a stable position.
The test is one of the most daunting milestones required by Nasa’s Commercial Crew Program to certify the capsule for eventual human spaceflight – a long-delayed goal set back years by development hurdles from both Boeing and SpaceX.
Despite the delays, and a blistering November government watchdog report that found Boeing received an “unnecessary” contract boost from Nasa, a successful mission would hand Boeing an engineering and public relations win in a year punctuated by a corporate crisis over a ban on its 737 MAX jetliner following fatal crashes.
Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion and Elon Musk’s SpaceX $2.5 billion by the US space agency in 2014 to develop separate capsule systems capable of ferrying astronauts to the space station from American soil for the first time since the US Space Shuttle was retired from service in 2011.
The program, primarily meant to end America’s reliance on Russia’s space program for rides to the space station, had initially expected its first crewed flights on Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule in late 2017. A slew of design and safety concerns for both vehicles have led to schedule delays.
The current target date for the first crewed flight is planned for mid-2020 for Boeing and SpaceX.
Occupying one of Starliner’s astronaut seats on Friday was a mannequin named Rosie, outfitted with sensors to measure the pressure a real astronaut would endure on ascent to the space station and during hypersonic re-entry back through Earth’s atmosphere.
If the mission went to plan, the intention was for Starliner to stay at the space station for a week before undocking and beginning its return to Earth early on Dec 28, deploying three parachutes to slow its descent to the desert surface of White Sands, New Mexico.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule carried out its unmanned test flight to the space station in March.
REUTERS
