The next launch of Boeing's Starliner will take place in May 2022, company officials said on Monday. That is possible if everything goes as planned.
In the last four months, teams from Boeing and NASA have been combing over data and inspecting valves to figure out what caused several valves in the Starliner spacecraft to shut down.
NASA has been working with Boeing to better understand the causes of the service module valve issue, according to Steve Stich, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager.
Boeing and NASA are working on a fix for the Starliner capsule's valve problem.
On Monday, the agency announced that the team is aiming to launch the Starliner on its second flight test in May 2022. The capsule will launch atop a ULA Atlas V rocket, which will carry it to the International Space Station.
The flight is a repeat of the Orbital Flight Test that was launched in December. The flight didn't go as planned, with the craft failing to reach the International Space Station. The vehicle's software caused the failure.
Boeing engineers worked with NASA to fix the issues and make sure the craft would be able to safely carry astronauts to and from the space station. Boeing intended to conduct a second flight test in August of 2021.
The OFT-2 mission had an issue with the craft's propulsion system, which caused several of the fuel system valves to be stuck shut.
Engineers were able to unstick nine of the 13 valves that control the flow of oxidizer within the fuel system. The oxidizer's interactions with the water caused the valves to shut.
The Atlas V rocket and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft are on a launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The image is from ULA.
The combined work gave us a better understanding of the contributors that led to the valve issues and ways to prevent them in the future. The Starliner system will be ready when we fly our test missions in 2022.
The teams will switch out the service module with one from an upcoming flight to make sure the craft is able to move towards a launch date in 2022. The first test flight with astronauts on board will be used for the OFT-2 mission, and the service module for the first operational mission will be used for CFT, company representatives have said.
John Vollmer, Boeing's vice president and commercial crew program manager, explained that teams were looking into what caused the stuck valves, but also looking forward to the other service modules to see what they could do to prevent this from happening.
There is a path forward.
The team will work on how to replace the service module. The teams are using specialized tools to see inside the stuck valves and analyzing samples of the corrosive substance on them.
Engineers are trying to replicate the conditions on the launch pad and inside the Atlas facilities at Space Launch Complex 40, which caused the excess water to get into the valves.
NASA, Boeing and the Eastern Range are working together to determine potential launch windows for OFT-2. The first one will open in May of 2022.
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