Boeing will try this Thursday (19) for the second time to take its Starliner capsule to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch takes place at 7:54 am (Brasilia time), if there are no technical or meteorological impediments.
The capsule will be propelled by an Atlas 5 rocket, from the company ULA (United Launch Alliance), and the weather forecast gives a 70% probability of good conditions for takeoff, which should take place from platform 41, in Cape Canaveral, Florida ( USA).
The first attempt took place in December 2019, on a flight marked by technical problems. Software glitches embedded in the on-board computer caused the capsule to inadvertently fire its thrusters upon reaching orbit, making a later encounter with the ISS impossible. The capsule narrowly missed an untimely re-entry into the atmosphere, which would have been a critical event if it were manned.
With the problems, the company decided to pay for a second unmanned demonstration flight out of its own pocket, before it said it was ready to transport astronauts in the service of NASA. This new test mission almost happened last year, but again it was plagued by technical problems: on the morning of launch in August 2021, tests revealed that 13 valves in the spacecraft’s propulsion system proved stuck.
An investigation ensued and to this day there is conflict between the company that supplied the propulsion system, Aerojet Rocketdyne, and Boeing. According to the final report, the problem occurred in an unanticipated interaction between Florida moisture, nitrogen tetroxide propellant, and aluminum valve parts. Aerojet Rocketdyne denies this and attributes the problem to the misuse of a valve cleaner. Fact is, they could not be fixed, and Boeing decided to use a new service module for the demo flight. There is still discussion whether, for the future, it will be necessary to redesign something in the propulsion system.
For now, all Boeing wants is to make a successful flight to the station and back, qualifying to carry astronauts on the next mission and fulfilling the contract originally signed with NASA in 2014.
At the time, Boeing and SpaceX were the two winners of the dispute, offering the development of their own crew transport systems (the Starliner and Crew Dragon capsules), as well as at least two demonstration flights, one without and the other with humans on board, for US$4.2 billion and US$2.8 billion, respectively. Boeing even had an addendum that expanded its value by $5 billion, but has not yet completed delivery.
SpaceX, despite having received much less from the American space agency, achieved a comfortable lead: it carried out its unmanned demonstration flight in March 2019 and the first flight with astronauts in May 2020. Since then, it has made four other flights. to the ISS in the service of NASA, in addition to two private space missions.
Boeing hopes to start regaining its prestige, as well as effectively entering the list of manned flight providers for NASA and other potential customers, soon. And the journey begins with a successful flight starting this Thursday (19).
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