The maiden crewed flight of Boeing Co.’s Starliner spacecraft was scrubbed Monday night, about two hours before it was scheduled to launch.
The decision was made due to concerns over an oxygen release valve on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
It was unclear when the launch may be attempted again, but there are backup dates later this week.
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“I really commend the team for making that tough call,” said Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, during a conference call to discuss the scrubbed launch.
“Our flight rules called for us to scrub and to take the crew off before we cycled that valve,” said ULA CEO Tory Bruno during the press conference.
“As I’ve said before, @NASA’s first priority is safety,” wrote NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on X, formerly known as Twitter. “We go when we’re ready.”
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Starliner had been scheduled to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams when it launched atop the Atlas V rocket. The launch had been planned for 10:34 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The first crewed Starliner mission has faced a number of delays in recent years, so Monday’s launch would have marked an important milestone for NASA, Boeing and their partners.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program partners with the private space industry in the U.S. to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
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