Boeing calls off its first astronaut launch due to last-minute issue with rocket

TAMPA, Fla. ( WFLA ) — The launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule was scrubbed Monday night, just hours before the scheduled liftoff, due to a valve problem on the rocket.

The United Launch Alliance posted on X , formerly known as Twitter, that the launch “will not continue tonight.” It’s unclear when the next launch opportunity would be.

Dillon Rice, a United Launch Alliance engineer, explained that the issue involved an oxygen relief valve on the upper stage of the company’s Atlas rocket.

“In a situation like this, if we see any data signature is not something that we have seen before, then we are just simply not willing to take any chances with what is our most precious payload,” Rice told the Associated Press.

The long-awaited launch of the Boeing Starliner capsule, its first with a crew on board, to the International Space Station was set for 10:34 p.m. Monday after years of delays.

Two NASA test pilots — Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams — had just strapped into Boeing’s Starliner capsule when the countdown was halted.

There was no immediate word on when the team would try again to launch the test pilots to the International Space Station for a weeklong stay. It was the latest delay for Boeing’s first crew flight, on hold for years because of capsule trouble.

Starliner’s first test flight without a crew in 2019 failed to reach the space station and Boeing had to repeat the flight. Then the company encountered parachute issues and flammable tape.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry astronauts to and from the space station after the shuttle program ended, paying the private companies billions of dollars. SpaceX has been in the orbital taxi business since 2020.

At the nearby Kennedy Space Center on Monday, SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink communication satellites just after 12:30 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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