Nasa and Boeing are diligently working to overcome the significant challenges facing the aerospace giant's troubled Starliner spacecraft. It has been just over six months since Boeing's problematic shuttle returned from its mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Due to a series of technical issues, NASA determined that the Starliner was not sufficiently safe for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to board, leaving them stranded in orbit.
In a recent update released on Thursday, NASA announced that significant strides are being made toward the crew certification of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. Teams are actively working to address the spacecraft’s in-flight anomalies and are preparing for critical propulsion system testing in the coming months. However, the timeline for the next launch attempt of Starliner, whether crewed or uncrewed, remains uncertain.
"Once we get through these planned test campaigns, we will have a better idea of when we can go fly the next Boeing flight," stated Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. He emphasized that progress in certification is expected to continue through the end of this year, and they will subsequently evaluate where Starliner fits within the schedule for the ISS and its missions for crew and cargo.
Stich indicated that the next flight of Starliner is likely to occur in late 2023 or early 2024. As part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, both Boeing and SpaceX were selected to develop separate spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the ISS and back safely. Over the past five years, SpaceX has outperformed its competitor with its Crew Dragon spacecraft, successfully completing twelve missions to the ISS.
Despite investing billions into the development of Starliner, Boeing has achieved considerably less success compared to SpaceX. The company faced a failed launch attempt in 2019 and encountered multiple issues during its first crewed attempt last year. NASA reports that teams are currently focused on testing Starliner’s problematic thrusters and the surrounding doghouse, which is the part of the module housing the thrusters.
Investigations revealed that the doghouse experienced overheating during repeated thruster firings, causing Teflon seals to bulge, which ultimately affected propellant flow. NASA is now considering upgrades to the thermal protection system, including the addition of barriers within the doghouse to better manage temperatures and modifications to the thruster pulse profiles during flight to prevent further overheating.
Whether these modifications will be sufficient to alleviate concerns among all stakeholders remains an open question. Boeing has already incurred losses exceeding $2 billion on the Starliner project and has yet to achieve a single successful mission. Nevertheless, the aerospace giant remains committed to the program. "I see a commitment from Boeing to continue the program," Stich noted during a briefing last week, as quoted by SpaceNews.
Stay tuned for more updates as NASA plans another test flight for Boeing's Starliner and continues to push the envelope in space exploration.
