2024-08-06 23:09:55
NASA announced on Tuesday that it is delaying the launch of astronauts with SpaceX from August to the end of September due to issues encountered by Boeing’s spacecraft, Starliner, which has been docked at the International Space Station for two months.
The Starliner capsule, which transported two NASA astronauts to the Space Station (ISS) in early June, was originally supposed to spend just over a week in space, but further tests had to be conducted after several anomalies were detected during flight.
Since then, the mission has been dragging on, and its return date has become increasingly uncertain.
If Boeing’s vehicle is not proven safe to bring its two astronauts back, NASA will have to find another way to return them to Earth. The American space agency could consider using a SpaceX vehicle, leaving Starliner to return empty.
The next crewed mission for SpaceX is a regular crew rotation mission for the ISS. The four members of this mission, named Crew-9, were originally scheduled to launch in mid-August to relieve the four members of Crew-8 currently aboard the flying laboratory.
However, Crew-9 may eventually only launch with two astronauts instead of four, in order to return the two space castaways from Boeing upon its return, according to industry reports.
The launch of Crew-9 is now postponed to no earlier than September 24, NASA stated.
“This adjustment provides more time (…) to finalize the planning for Boeing’s crewed test flight return,” NASA wrote, specifying that the analysis of the tests conducted on Starliner is still ongoing.
NASA is planning a press conference on Wednesday concerning both Starliner and Crew-9.