The launch attempt was called off roughly two hours ahead of the planned liftoff.
NASA and Boeing were forced to stand down from an attempted launch to the International Space Station on Monday because of a last-minute issue that cropped up with a valve on the spacecraft’s rocket.
Boeing’s Starliner capsule had been scheduled to lift off at 10:34 p.m. ET from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on its first crewed test flight. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams were on board the capsule and strapped into their seats when the launch attempt was called off, roughly two hours ahead of the planned liftoff.
A new launch date has not yet been announced.
Mission controllers declared a launch “scrub” after an anomaly was detected on an oxygen valve on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, which the Starliner capsule was to ride into orbit.
My impression, and correct me if I am wrong, is that Boeings issues are largely management/culture driven (this may just be the plane side of the business though). The Atlas 5 this is being launched on may have been designed by LM, but it was still built under the same management/culture.
But either way, the Atlas 5 is a very reliable rocket, so the scorn isnt really that deserved.
Boeing issues are plane side of the business for sure.
From little I’m aware, part of why Boeing sought a partnership with Lockheed is because they weren’t sure what to do with the aerospace pieces of McDonell Douglas and Rockwell they acquired in the late 90’s. Meaning most of the “Boeing” contribution to ULA came from other companies already serving NASA for decades. Mainly with the Delta rockets.
None of that was core Boeing business. Which is why ULA has been run by Lockheed people the whole time it has existed. Current ULA CEO Tory Bruno was an engineer at Lockheed for a long time before working his way up to where he’s at now. Something like 30 years in the industry.