BOEING LAUNCH OF STARLINER CREW FLIGHT TEST, June 5, 2024, CCSFS, 10:52 am ET

Update June 2:  They will try again on Wednesday, June 5, at 10:52 am ET.  A post-launch news conference is scheduled for 12:30 pm ET with these participants:

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
• Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
• Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
• Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing
• Tory Bruno, president and CEO, ULA

Update, June 1: NASA decided to forgo the launch opportunity on June 2. The next two opportunities are June 5 and June 6. NASA will announce a date when it’s ready, but we are using June 5 as a tentative date for now.

The launch time is 10:52 am ET on June 5 and 10:29 am ET on June 6.

Update, June 1, 1:00 pm ET:  The launch scrubbed 3 minutes and 50 seconds before liftoff when the automated ground launch sequencer triggered a hold. The cause has not been determined yet.

Update, May 24:  NASA confirmed during a media telecon today that the launch is now scheduled for June 1 at 12:25 pm ET.  Backup opportunities are on June 2, 5 and 6.

NASA’s TV schedule shows the following coverage of launch and docking:

June 1:  

• 8:15 am ET: launch coverage begins and continues through docking, hatch opening and welcome remarks on NASA TV’s public and media channels except for during the post-launch news conference when it will be only on the media channel
• 12:25 pm ET: Launch
• 2:00 pm ET: post-launch press conference

June 2:

• 1:50 pm ET: Docking
• ~3:35 pm ET: Hatch opening and welcome remarks
• 5:00 pm ET:  Post-docking news conference

The Starliner capsule for this test flight is named Calypso. Pilot Suni Williams chose the name in 2019 to honor Jacques Cousteau’s voyages of exploration aboard his ship of that name.  The capsule is reusable. It first flew on the Orbital Flight Test (OFT) in 2019.  A second capsule was to fly the Crew Flight Test, then this one would be used again for the first operational or “Post Certification Mission.” Williams was supposed to command that mission and by tradition got to name the spacecraft. Because OFT was only partially successful, a second uncrewed flight was inserted into the schedule using the other capsule and Calypso is the one being used for CFT. The crew for CFT has changed many times with Williams ending up as the pilot.

Update, May 22: NASA now says they are looking at June 1 at 12:25 pm ET as the next launch opportunity, but they are still evaluating the situation.  Additional opportunities are on June 2, 5 and 6.  A media telecon on Friday, May 24, at 11:00 am will provide an update.

Update, May 21:  In an emailed statement about 9:30 pm ET, several hours after CBS News reporter Bill Harwood broke the news on X,  NASA acknowledged that the launch will not take place on May 25.  A new date was not announced.

Update May 17: The launch has been delayed yet again. New date is May 25 at 3:09 pm ET. Boeing determined the helium leak is stable and “would not pose a risk at the level during flight” but they need time to develop “operational procedures to ensure the system retains sufficient performance capability and appropriate redundancy during the flight.”

Update May 14: The launch has been delayed again until no earlier than May 21 at 4:43 pm ET. ULA’s valve is fixed, but there is a helium leak in Starliner’s service module.

#Starliner’s Crew Flight Test is now targeted to launch no earlier than 4:43 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 21, to complete additional testing.

Learn more: https://t.co/KUYQsPdbzM

— Boeing Space (@BoeingSpace) May 14, 2024

Update, May 11: NASA continues to target May 17 at 6:16 pm ET as the launch date.  If that actually is the date, NASA coverage will begin at 2:00 pm ET and a post-launch press conference will take place at 7:45 pm ET.

Update, May 7, 11:00 pm ET: The launch will take place no earlier than May 17 at 6:16 pm ET.

Update May 7, 6:45 am ET:  NASA says in a blog post the launch will be no earlier than Friday, May 10.

Update, May 6:  The launch was scrubbed at about 8:35 pm ET because of an unexpected reading from an oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage.  A new launch date is TBD.

Update, April 29:  NASA coverage of the May 6 launch begins at 6:30 pm ET on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.  NASA has a large number of news conferences and other events before and after the launch.  See our other Calendar entries or NASA’s press release.

Update, April 5:  NASA announced the launch time in May 6 is 10:34 pm ET.

#Starliner fueling ✅

Teams with @BoeingSpace have completed fueling the Starliner spacecraft for the upcoming Crew Flight Test!

Liftoff is targeted for May 6 at 10:34pm ET from SLC-41 aboard a @ulalaunch Atlas V rocket. https://t.co/5E53pwPW5k

— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) April 5, 2024

Update, April 2, 2024:  The launch of Starliner CFT has slipped to May 6 due to ISS operational issues.

Update, March 22, 2024:  NASA and Boeing say they are targeting May 1 for the launch.  The time was not announced.

Update, March 18, 2024:  The launch has been delayed until May.  The ISS schedule has to accommodate a large number of spacecraft arriving and departing this spring and a docking port will not be available for Starliner until “early May.” A specific launch date has not been announced. We are using May 10 here only as a placeholder.

Update, February 25, 2024:  NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said during a pre-launch briefing for Crew-8 that the Starliner CFT flight is currently targeted for April 22, 2024.

Update, June 1, 2023: The launch has been indefinitely postponed.

Original Entry: On March 29, 2023, NASA and Boeing set July 21, 2023 as the “No Earlier Than” launch date for Boeing’s Crew Flight Test of the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew spacecraft on an Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), FL.

An uncrewed test flight, the Orbital Flight Test, took place in 2022. This is the first flight of Starliner with people aboard — NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams.

The launch has been delayed many times and the July 21 date is contingent upon NASA coordinating with the U.S. Space Force that operates CCSFS and has another Atlas V launch scheduled for about the same time.

Starliner was developed by Boeing through a Public-Private Partnership with NASA as a competitor to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. NASA wanted two crew service providers for redundancy and to keep costs in check. NASA does not own the vehicles, but purchases services from the companies and encourages them to find other customers as well. Crew Dragon won certification by NASA in 2020 and now routinely takes NASA and private astronauts to orbit.