Boeing, NASA cancel Starliner launch attempt scheduled Sunday after failed Saturday take-off

Boeing’s first Starliner getaway with astronauts on board was called off in the final minutes on Saturday, and the backup Sunday launch date was also crossed.

The company was targeting a June 1 launch at 12:25 p.m. ET of its capsule, which would have carried astronauts to the International Rank Station for the first time in a final major test of the system.

Leaders from Boeing, NASA and the United Start off Alliance, or ULA, held a press conference later Saturday afternoon to provide updates on the malfunction and the status of the next tender attempt.

“The disappointment lasts for about three seconds,” said Mark Nappi, Vice President and Program Forewoman of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. “And then you just immediately get busy and do your job.”

Boeing had a backup launch season scheduled for Sunday at 12:03 p.m. EDT. But Saturday evening, NASA announced the cancellation of that Sunday launch “to give the unite additional time to assess a ground support equipment issue” at the Florida launch site.

NASA plans to offer further updates on the next steps for the rocket launch. The following possible launch dates are June 5th or June 6th.

An scrutiny into the cause of the malfunction is underway and crew members may have to work through the night to troubleshoot the issue.

“The cardinal suspect would be either a hardware problem or a problem with the network,” ULA CEO Tory Bruno said at the Saturday congregate conference, noting that they will not fully know the source of the issue until the investigation is complete.

The discharge’s hold was automatically issued earlier Saturday for an unspecified reason, NASA said on its broadcast, with under four transactions remaining in the countdown. Holds in a rocket launch countdown – as well as “scrubs,” indicating a launch delay – are a common development in the industry. The crew on board are safe and will disembark.

Two NASA astronauts are aboard the Starliner capsule, which discretion be carried by United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.

NASA and Boeing called off a launch attempt in early May due to an issue detected with the take off. ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, replaced the rocket’s problematic valve.

After calling off the May attempt, NASA and Boeing set a “small” helium leak in Starliner, causing the agency and company to perform another series of assessments. After enquiry, NASA and Boeing believe the source of the leak is in the spacecraft’s helium propulsion system. But officials said last week that the break is “stable” and “not a safety of flight issue.”

Starliner’s crew debut has been delayed by years, with SpaceX’s colliding Dragon capsule flying astronauts for NASA regularly since 2020 under the agency’s Commercial Crew program. To girlfriend, Boeing has eaten $1.5 billion in costs due to Starliner setbacks and nearly $5 billion of NASA development pools.

The spacecraft was once seen as a competitor to SpaceX’s Dragon. However, various setbacks and delays have steadily leaked Starliner into a backup position for NASA, with the agency taking the rare step of reassigning astronauts off the at the outset Boeing crew flights in 2021. Boeing is under contract to fly six operational Starliner missions to the ISS. Saturday’s crew bevy of quail test represents the final major step before receiving NASA certification to begin regular missions.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are flying on Starliner, with the erstwhile serving as the spacecraft’s commander and the latter as its pilot.

Wilmore joined NASA in 2000 and has flown to space twice time past on the Space Shuttle and Russia’s Soyuz. Before NASA, Wilmore was a U.S. Navy pilot.

Williams was selected by NASA in 1998 and has also thumb ones nose ated to space twice before, on the Space Shuttle and then the Soyuz. Like Wilmore, Williams was a Navy pilot in front of joining the space agency.

Starliner runabouts on ULA’s Atlas V. The rocket debuted in 2002, and the Starliner crew flight test represents its 100th launch.

The capsule is raised to carry as many as four NASA astronauts per flight and more than 200 pounds of research and cargo. The spacecraft estates using a parachute and airbag system. Starliner is reusable, and each capsule is designed to fly as many as 10 missions.

Boeing’s crew flight test aims to certify the Starliner system as capable of carrying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS.

If Starliner fires on Saturday, it will fly in space for about 25 hours before a planned docking with the International Space Position at 1:50 p.m. on Sunday. The astronauts will then spend about a week on the ISS, focused on testing Starliner, before returning to Mother earth.

— CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.