The launch of the first manned flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) should take place in July, after multiple postponements, the American aeronautics giant and NASA announced on Wednesday.
The CST-100 Starliner mission is not expected to proceed until July 21, officials from both entities said.
“We discussed and decided that the best launch attempt would not be until July 21”
for the crewed test flight, Steve Stich, NASA manned commercial program manager, told reporters.
The American space agency wants to set up a second means of transport to the ISS for its astronauts, with the SpaceX capsule already in service.
Read alsoWith Starliner, Boeing challenges SpaceX
But Boeing suffered a series of setbacks that significantly delayed its program, including a failed test flight in 2019. The company finally managed in May 2022 to reach the ISS for the first time - without a crew on board.
Boeing then hoped to be able to carry out its first manned flight in 2022, before it was postponed for the first time to February 2023, then April.
Soon operational Boeing flights?
"We're pretty confident about that date
" of July 21, said Mark Nappi, Starliner program manager at Boeing.
According to Steve Stich, more time is needed to certify the parachute system designed to safely return the astronauts and the capsule to Earth.
A ground test of the parachutes will be conducted in May.
The Starliner capsule will carry two NASA astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, to the ISS where they are expected to stay for at least eight days.
The launch will take place using an Atlas V rocket (manufactured by the United Launch Alliance consortium) from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
If the mission is successful, the Boeing capsule can finally be certified and begin its operational flights, on a date yet to be determined.
NASA signed fixed-price contracts with both SpaceX ($2.6 billion) and Boeing ($4.2 billion) in 2014. By using two companies, it wants to diversify its options, so as to never again risk find themselves without American means of transport, as after the shutdown of space shuttles in 2011. Until SpaceX, NASA was indeed reduced to paying for places in Russian Soyuz rockets.
Elon Musk's company, yet a newcomer to the aerospace industry compared to Boeing, has already transported 18 astronauts to the ISS with its own capsule, Dragon - as well as four private passengers, during
