The first manned flight of Boeing's Starliner space capsule has been postponed again, and is now scheduled for April, NASA announced Thursday.

The US space agency wants to establish a second means of transport to the International Space Station (ISS) for its astronauts, with the SpaceX capsule already in service.

But Boeing has suffered a series of setbacks that significantly delayed its program, including a failed test flight in 2019. The company finally succeeded in May 2022 in reaching the ISS for the first time -- without a crew on board.

Boeing had then hoped to make its first manned flight in 2022, before it was first pushed back to February 2023.

The new delay announced Thursday allows to regulate the traffic to the Space Station, NASA said in a statement, without giving more details.

This test flight, called CFT (for "Crew flight test"), will carry two NASA astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams. They should stay about two weeks in the ISS, NASA said Thursday.

If the mission is successful, the Boeing capsule will finally be certified and begin its operational flights, at a date yet to be determined.

Related Links
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Eagle-designed space drones target in-orbit construction
Daytona Beach FL (SPX) Oct 17, 2022
What if vehicles could be assembled in space without human supervision? What if autonomous spacecraft could conduct routine maintenance and inspections on satellites, while flying in orbit around the Earth? Dr. Hever Moncayo, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University associate professor of Aerospace Engineering, believes all of this is possible, and he's helping push the technology that will accomplish these goals forward by developing high-precision navigation algorithms that would allow space systems ... read more