Washington: After years of delays, NASA said it is planning to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station on a Boeing Starliner spacecraft no earlier than mid-April.

The space agency says significant progress has been made in resolving technical issues that were identified during the spacecraft’s flight certification process. Starliner went through a successful drop test earlier this month. Teams from NASA and Boeing are conducting the final analysis of the data to complete overall system certification ahead of its first crewed flight.

NASA selected both Boeing and SpaceX in 2014 to develop crew transport systems to carry astronauts into space. Boeing was awarded a $4.2 billion contract, while SpaceX was awarded $2.6 billion. Elon Musk-led SpaceX completed its first crewed flight in 2020, and it has carried more than a dozen crewed flights to the space station since then, along with many cargo flights. Boeing, meanwhile, has only completed two uncrewed flight tests of Starliner.

In the background, Boeing completed the removal of over seven kilograms of the P213 tape that could pose a fire risk in some conditions. In parts of the spacecraft where removing the tape could lead to other hardware issues, the company overwrapped the P213 tape with a different non-flammable, chafe-resistant tap and installed fire breaks on wire harnesses.

Major integrated flight operations exercises are also underway with mission support teams recently completed a two-day undocking to landing mission dress rehearsal at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Agencies

KR Desk