NASA: Boeing's Starliner to fly to ISS two fewer times

After the debacle with the first manned flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, the US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has drawn consequences. Among other things, it has reduced the number of outstanding Starliner flights.

The Starliner is now only scheduled to make four manned flights to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA announced. Originally, six flights were commissioned. However, NASA left the option open for the remaining two.

The Starliner-1 mission, which was supposed to be the first regular mission with a crew on board, will also take place unmanned. This had already been indicated in March, shortly after the end of the failed last Starliner mission. Instead of a new crew, the Starliner will only transport supplies to the ISS.

Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore stayed longer on the ISS

The Starliner flew for the fourth time in June last year, the first time with two people on board. Suni Williams and her colleague Barry Wilmore were only supposed to stay on the ISS for five days and then return to Earth. In the end, they stayed for nine months.

The reason for this were problems with the Starliner's propulsion system: several helium leaks occurred, and difficulties with the engines delayed the docking. Finally, it seemed safer to return the spacecraft to Earth without Williams and Wilmore. A Crew Dragon finally brought the two back to Earth in March.

After that, Boeing made changes to the Starliner, including the engines. These are to be checked on the upcoming flight. "NASA and Boeing continue to thoroughly test the Starliner propulsion system to prepare for two possible flights next year," said Steve Stich, head of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

Financial Debacle

The downgrading of the Starliner-1 mission to an unmanned one is also financially noticeable for Boeing. For the unmanned mission, NASA is paying, according to the British news agency Reuters, 3.732 billion US dollars, 768 million US dollars less than for a manned mission. The Starliner program is already a loss-making business anyway.

Boeing was supposed to start regular manned flights to the ISS as early as 2017. However, this schedule could not be met. Due to development delays, Boeing repeatedly postponed the maiden flight. When the time came in 2019, due to a software error, the engines did not ignite at the right time, and the Starliner did not reach the ISS.

(wpl)