NASA has announced it will delay the targeted launch date of SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) while it continues to work on resolving the situation with the troubled Starliner spacecraft.
The Starliner has been docked at the ISS since early June in a mission that was only supposed to last about 10 days. But an issue with some of the spacecraft’s thrusters has prompted NASA engineers to carry out investigations to work out if the vehicle is safe to fly home with its two crew members onboard.
The Crew-9 mission will use a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule to carry NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson, Zena Cardman, and Nick Hague, along with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. It had been targeting August 18 for launch, but liftoff has now been pushed to no earlier than September 24.
“This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing [Starliner] Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory,” NASA said in a message shared on its website on Tuesday.
The space agency said that Starliner ground teams are “taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth. NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return.”
NASA added that the adjustment to the launch date for Crew-9 also clears the way for the upcoming Soyuz handover, which is targeted for no earlier than mid-September.
In another knock-on effect of the delayed Starliner homecoming, NASA will also adjust the launch of SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission to no earlier than mid-October.
NASA is holding a media teleconference on Wednesday during which it will offer an update on its efforts to determine whether the Starliner is ready to come home. Here’s how to listen in.