Boeing (BA) delayed the launch of its Starliner space capsule Monday after identifying a faulty oxygen relief valve just hours before liftoff.
Early Tuesday, NASA said the launch, which was expected to carry two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), would be rescheduled to “no earlier than Friday, May 10.”
“The delay allows teams to complete data analysis on a pressure regulation valve on the liquid oxygen tank of the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage and determine whether it is necessary to replace the valve,” NASA said in a statement.
The launch of the CST-100 Starliner on board the United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin (LMT) joint venture, was supposed to mark Boeing’s first crewed flight and a big step forward for a firm plagued by design flaws and a botched flight attempt.
But mission teams scrubbed the launch two hours before liftoff. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams were set to spend a week on the International Space Station while the Starliner remained docked.
“It has been a real challenge for them to get their spacecraft ready to go and safe for our astronauts,” said Intuitive Machines (LUNR) founder and CEO Steve Altemus, speaking at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference. “While they’ve worked through some very difficult technical challenges, what’s the future of that program? I’m not quite sure how it will persist over time and what kind of investment it’ll take.”
Aerospace has ‘fundamentally changed’
The delay marked the latest setback for a company already grappling with quality control and safety issues in its aviation business, including a slew of problems linked to its 737 Max models.
Boeing began developing Starliner in 2014 after winning a $6.8 billion NASA contract along with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. Since then, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule has flown nine crewed flights for NASA and four flights with private astronauts, while Boeing has failed to keep up.
Boeing’s first attempt to reach the ISS was unsuccessful after its onboard clock was set incorrectly, causing the computer to fire the capsule’s engines prematurely. The program has incurred more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns.
Altemus, whose company has partnered with Boeing and Northrop Grumman (NOC) to develop a lunar terrain vehicle for NASA, said Boeing’s challenges highlight a fundamental shift within the new space economy.
“It speaks to a broader issue in the industry about what’s the role of the traditional prime contractor or the strategic aerospace company,” he said. “I think the environment of NASA and the way they’re doing nontraditional procurements to buy goods and services for the Artemis program has fundamentally changed the landscape and disrupted strategic aerospace.”
The space economy is in the midst of a rapid evolution, driven by SpaceX. Borrowing from a playbook established by founder Elon Musk, firms are moving quicker, building bigger, and slashing costs in the process, bringing a tech startup-like mentality to space exploration.
Much of that growth has been limited to rockets and satellites, but NASA has added to the fuel, by leaning on private companies to take on the risk of further space exploration to the moon and beyond.
Altemus said that the push to move faster and be more flexible has put smaller companies like Intuitive in the driver’s seat. NASA has already awarded the company more than $100 million to develop an end-to-end lunar delivery service in addition to developing the lunar terrain vehicle.
In February, Intuitive became the first commercial company to reach the surface of the moon, although its lunar vehicle Odysseus tipped on its side upon landing, altering the mission.
“The government is asking us as commercial companies to share the risk,” Altemus said. “Sometimes with the larger strategic aerospace companies, their boards and their shareholders are not comfortable with that risk posture, where a smaller, more nimble, agile company can maybe work around those financial risks and be successful.”
“I think the companies that can figure this out, the ones who can manage with these non-traditional procurements, will be the tier one aerospace companies of the future,” he added.
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Akiko Fujita is an anchor and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @AkikoFujita.
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