A Speceforce Atlas launch has the 21 July date and is using the same pad...
Cargo, Research Work Ongoing as Commercial Crew Missions Announced
Mark Garcia Posted on March 30, 2023
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NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than Friday, July 21, for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station, pending coordination for the U.S Eastern Range availability. The new target date provides NASA and Boeing the necessary time to complete subsystem verification testing and close out test flight certification products and aligns with the space station manifest and range launch opportunities.
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https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2023/03/30/cargo-research-work-ongoing-as-commercial-crew-missions-announced/
Target Launch Manifest
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test: NET July 21, 2023
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7: NET mid-August 2023
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8: NET February 2024
NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1: NET Summer 2024
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NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1
NASA and Boeing’s first crew rotation mission to the space station is planned for no earlier than summer 2024. NASA astronauts Scott Tingle and Mike Fincke, commander and pilot, respectively, will fly aboard the Starliner spacecraft, which previously flew on Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Two mission specialists will be assigned in the coming months. Timing of the launch is subject to change based on several factors, including: a successful CFT, incorporation of anticipated learning from CFT, approvals of postflight data and final certification products, and completion of operational readiness and certification reviews. Starliner-1 will fly a new service module currently in production at the Boeing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Production of the Atlas V rocket is complete. The hardware is in storage at the United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama, awaiting shipment to the launch site for stacking and final integration with the spacecraft.
ASAP Chair Patricia Sanders sounds skeptical Starliner will be ready for a crewed flight test in July, noting a "number of open risks" for the vehicle. She strongly encourages NASA to have an independent team step in and assess the program.
Chair of NASA's aerospace safety panel, discussing Boeing's first crewed Starliner test planned for July, suggests the agency consider assigning an independent team to take a "deep look" at the issues left to address before Starliner flies, noting several open risks remain.
Patricia Sanders also stressed that NASA shouldn't rush certification of Boeing's crewed flight test and warned against accepting risks long-term just because they worked short-term for the uncrewed test, like the "battery sidewall rupture" risk that is not yet fully mitigated.
We reported in March some initial concerns among NASA officials about Starliner's battery overheating risks. Boeing says it has seen no battery issues during tests, having conducted "more than a dozen Starliner battery thermal runaway tests."
ASAP wants NASA to take a "measured look" at Starliner's readiness and seriously consider an independent review. ASAP chair Sanders cited parachutes and battery sidewall rupture (?) as open concerns.]
Boeing is further delaying the first crewed launch of its Starliner spacecraft after discovering additional issues with the capsule, the company announced alongside NASA on Thursday.
The Starliner crew flight test was most recently scheduled for July 21 and was due to carry a pair of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing discovered two new problems with Starliner: one affecting the safety of its parachute systems and another involving a specific tape that was discovered to be flammable.
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The delay is the latest in a series of disruptions for Starliner's first crewed flight. The July timeline was itself a delay from a previous target of April. A new flight target is pending, NASA and Boeing said on Thursday.
Boeing CEO says company still committed to Starliner
Jeff Foust
June 20, 2023
WASHINGTON — The chief executive of Boeing says his company is still committed to the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle despite the latest problems that have further delayed the program.
In an interview on the “Check 6” podcast by Aviation Week published June 16, Dave Calhoun said that Boeing was not “shutting the door” on Starliner after the company postponed the first crewed flight of the vehicle that had been scheduled for late July.
NASA commercial crew manager Steve Stich said it's still too early to set a new launch date for the Starliner crewed test flight, as they focus on technical issues. Making progress on the parachute joint and wire tape issues.
https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/1683885942212374532QuoteNASA commercial crew manager Steve Stich said it's still too early to set a new launch date for the Starliner crewed test flight, as they focus on technical issues. Making progress on the parachute joint and wire tape issues.
Boeing says it recorded a $257 million loss on its CST-100 Starliner program in the second quarter because of continued launch delays, part of a $527 million loss in the quarter for the Defense, Space & Security unit.
Boeing has now lost $1.1 billion on Starliner, with no crew flight in sight
"We're not really ready to talk about a launch opportunity yet."
ERIC BERGER - 7/26/2023, 4:26 PM
A difficult summer for the Starliner program continued this week, with Boeing reporting additional losses on the vehicle's development and NASA saying it's too early to discuss potential launch dates for the crewed spacecraft.
SpaceX provided its knowledge of crewed parachute systems to Boeing and we are happy to be helpful in any other ways.
Designing parachutes for orbital, crewed spacecraft is much harder than it may seem. Was a major challenge for SpaceX.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-boeing-to-provide-progress-update-on-starliner-crew-flight-testQuoteJul 31, 2023
MEDIA ADVISORY M23-096
NASA, Boeing to Provide Progress Update on Starliner Crew Flight Test
NASA and Boeing will host a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Monday, Aug. 7, to provide an update on the first astronaut flight of the company’s CST-100 Starliner to and from the International Space Station.
Audio of the teleconference will stream live on NASA’s website.
Leaders will discuss spacecraft and team readiness ahead of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test – the final flight test prior to regular crewed missions to the space station on the next-generation system.
The briefing participants are:
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Joel Montalbano, manager, NASA’s International Space Station Program
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, CST-100 Starliner, Boeing
To participate in the call, media must RSVP no later than one hour prior to the start of the event to: [email protected].
The Starliner spacecraft will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, returning about a week later in White Sands, New Mexico.
The flight will carry two NASA astronaut test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, on the demonstration flight to prove the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft.
Following a successful test flight with astronauts, NASA will begin the final process of certifying the Starliner spacecraft and systems for regular crew rotation flights to and from the space station.
Find out more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
-end-
Joshua Finch
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected]
Steven Siceloff / Heather Scott
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
[email protected] / [email protected]
Leah Cheshier
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
[email protected]
Last Updated: Jul 31, 2023
Editor: Claire O’Shea
Tags: Commercial Space, International Space Station (ISS)
Boeing remains upbeat about Starliner's future despite crewed flight delays.
Bella Richards (@bellaa_richards) rounds up the latest status:
John Shannon, who in December was appointed vice president of Boeing Exploration Systems, which has oversight of Starliner and the company’s space programs, said in an interview that despite the enormous costs, the company will not abandon the program — though he acknowledged that the $1.4 billion Boeing has had to eat on the program has been a major hurdle.
“For a government contract like that you just never see that kind of investment,” he said. “And trying to take the very top level view of it, it’s important, I think, to the country to have an American capability to fly crew. SpaceX is doing that now. We’ll be the second one.”
But asked whether Boeing plans to continue with the program long-term, he (John Shannon) suggested that was in doubt. “It’s a great question. And I wish I had the answer to it right now,” he said.
The concern, he said, is that the private market for space travel is uncertain and plans for commercial space stations that would provide a need for regular launches have yet to materialize, even though NASA has started to invest in those and Boeing is a partner with Blue Origin and Sierra Space on one.
“They’re just not at a level of maturity where I can write them into any kind of a business case and say that yeah, this is something that’s going to kind of get us over the hump,” he said.
He added: “Probably the biggest challenge I have is defining how do I make this into a positive business case, given the market conditions as we see them right now.”