Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams to fly NASA to space on May 10: Boeing

New Delhi, May 7

After being scrubbed two hours before launch, Boeing now aims to launch the Starliner’s first crewed mission on May 10, it said on Tuesday.

The lift off, targeted for 10:34 pm ET (0234 UTC May 7) on Tuesday, was stalled due to a valve issue on the upper stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

“The next launch opportunity will be no earlier than Friday, May 10,” the company said in a statement.

“The scrub was recommended after launch control teams detected anomalous behaviour by the pressure regulation valve in the liquid oxygen tank of the Centaur upper stage of the ULA Atlas V launch vehicle,” the company said.

The aerospace company said that its engineers are analysing the data to understand the problem and “determine any corrective actions”.

“Boeing, NASA and United Launch Alliance have made the decision to allow engineering teams to spend Tuesday, May 7, evaluating the data,” the statement said.

The first manned mission of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft aims to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams to the space station.