The Starliner’s manned flight has been postponed again by a few days. It is now expected at the beginning of May 2024.
Were you waiting for the manned flight of the Starliner capsule for the month of April? It’s time to correct your calendar: the calendar was updated at the beginning of April. The new date is set for Monday May 6, 2024, at the earliest, for the first launch of the machine with a crew on board. Head to the International Space Station (ISS).
In a press release from the American space agency, it is explained that this postponement “ helps optimize the timing of space station activities planned for the end of April, including undocking the cargo ship and relocating the crew ship port necessary for Starliner docking. »
Multiple postponements for the Starliner
It is also an opportunity for NASA and Boeing, which was responsible for manufacturing this capsule, to complete several remaining tasks before launch and, in the process, obtain certification declaring the machine capable of going into space in completely safe. It is all the more an obligation as there will be two astronauts on board: Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore.
According to NASA, this gap is also beneficial for the members of the ISS. This will allow them “to have more time to carry out scientific activities” at the microgravity laboratory, and to manage all the logistics before the departure of the Dragon space cargo. This occupies the area that the Starliner must reach.
This postponement of the manned flight is part of a growing list of schedule modifications. Initially, the manned flight was hoped for in the summer of 2023, more than a year after a previous empty test, in May 2022. The date slipped to July, then August 2023, before being rescheduled to March 2024. And now it’s April.
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