The CST-100 Starliner mission is not expected to resume until July 21, officials from both units said.
“We discussed and decided that the best launch attempt would not occur until July 21,” Steve Stich, head of NASA’s manned commercial program, told reporters.
The American space agency wants to set up a second means of transport to the ISS for its astronauts, and the SpaceX capsule is already in use.
But Boeing suffered a series of setbacks that significantly delayed its program, including a failed test flight in 2019. In May 2022, the company finally made it to the ISS for the first time — with no crew aboard.
Boeing then hoped to conduct its first manned flight in 2022, before first being pushed back to February 2023, then April.
“We’re pretty confident about that July 21 date,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Starliner program manager.
According to Steve Stich, more time is needed to certify the parachute system that will be used to bring the astronauts and the capsule safely back to Earth. A ground test of the parachutes will be conducted in May.
The Starliner capsule will carry two NASA astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, to the ISS, where they are expected to stay for at least eight days.
Launch will be on an Atlas V rocket (manufactured by the United Launch Alliance consortium) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
If the mission is successful, the Boeing capsule can finally be certified and begin operational flights at a date to be determined.
NASA signed fixed-price contracts with both SpaceX ($2.6 billion) and Boeing ($4.2 billion) in 2014.
By using two companies, it wants to diversify its options so as never again to run the risk of being without American transport, as it did after the space shuttles were shut down in 2011. Until SpaceX, NASA actually had to pay for seats on Russian Soyuz rockets.
Elon Musk’s company, which is still a newcomer to the aerospace industry compared to Boeing, has already transported 18 astronauts to the ISS with its own Dragon capsule – as well as four private passengers as part of a space tourism mission.