Boeing readies for maiden crewed Starliner launch despite helium leak

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — After dealing with a number of delays, Boeing is ready to launch the maiden crewed Starliner flight with two NASA astronauts onboard, even though the spacecraft has a helium leak.

Countdown to launch

Sitting on top of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, Boeing’s Starliner will take flight on Saturday, June 1, at 12:25 p.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

(Boeing built the Starliner and United Launch Alliance — a joint business venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin — built the Atlas V rocket.)

NASA astronauts Cmdr. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams will be heading to the International Space Station while sitting in Starliner, which is christened Calypso.

The 45th Weather Squadron has given a 90% chance of good launch conditions, with the only concerns being ground winds and the cumulus cloud rule.

Mark Burger of the squadron explained to Spectrum News what the liftoff conditions are like for both the launch day and for Sunday, one of the backup attempts. 

If the Starliner does not go up, the next attempts are set for the following dates, according to NASA: Sunday, June 2, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6. No launch times have been given.

Getting off the ground: A timeline

The Boeing Crew Flight Test mission has seen several delays, from an issue with a valve on the Atlas V rocket to a persistent helium leak on the Starliner. In fact, NASA stated on Friday, May 24, that the Starliner will be launched with the helium leak, saying it was stable and manageable.

The first launch attempt was set for Monday, May 6. However, minutes before the lift off, officials scrubbed it because they discovered an issue with a pressure regulation valve on a liquid oxygen tank on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage.

Both Starliner and the rocket were rolled back to Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 to repair the issue. The pair has since been rolled back to the pad.

Boeing hoped for a second launch attempt on Friday, May 17, at 6:16 p.m. ET. However, a small helium leak that was discovered in the Starliner’s service module put an end to that attempt. The cause of the leak is from a faulty seal.

The small helium leak also dashed the hopes of two more attempts: One for Tuesday, May 21, at 4:43 p.m. ET and the second one on Saturday, May 25, at 3:09 p.m. ET.

More information about the helium leak can be found here.

On Friday, May 24, NASA confirmed with Spectrum News that it will allow Starliner to launch with a helium leak.

On Wednesday, May 29, both the private company and the U.S. space agency announced that the Starliner mission is still on for the weekend.

“NASA and Boeing teams polled ‘go’ to proceed with plans to launch the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station at 12:25 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 1. During a Delta-Agency Flight Test Readiness Review Wednesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, leaders from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) verified launch readiness, including all systems, facilities, and teams supporting the test flight,” Boeing stated.

During a press conference on Friday, May 31, NASA officials once again assured that the Starliner is safe to flight, despite it losing helium.

Answering a question posed by Spectrum News as to why both NASA and Boeing do not roll the stacked vehicle back into the hanger and remove the space capsule to fix the leak, space agency officials said they have been thorough with reviewing the situation and the data they have collected.

“First of all, we’ve looked really hard at what our options were for this particular flange and the fact that this flange has a fuel line that goes into the flange, an oxygenizer line and helium line all going into the flange makes it problematic to work on. It makes it almost unsafe to work on,” answered Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

He said the broken seal is leaking a half a pound a day and because the tank can hold 50 pounds of helium, they feel they can manage the small leak and within the margin of safety for spaceflight.

“Sometimes for spaceflight, we plan for contingencies and design the vehicle to have margin and in our case, we have margin in the helium tank,” Stich said. “… We really think we can manage this leak both by looking at it before we launch and then if it got bigger in flight, we can manage it. In fact, we can handle it as I said on Friday a leak 100 times worse than this.”

Mark Nappi, Boeing’s vice president and program manager of its commercial crew program, echoed what Stich said, adding that they asked themselves, “Is it safe or not? And it is safe and that’s why we determined to go fly with what we have.”

Learn about Starliner and Atlas V rocket

While the Starliner can fit up to seven crew members, for NASA missions it will carry between four to five people.

Each 16.5-foot (5 meter) tall Starliner is designed for up to 10 launch missions and they are made for each assignment, stated Boeing.  

The Starliner spacecraft only has two missions under its wide belt: The first Orbital Flight Test in December 2019, which did launch as planned but there was a glitch in the mission-elapsed timer that caused the spacecraft to go into an orbital insertion burn at the wrong time, which wasted a lot of fuel.

So, while it achieved a stable orbit, it could not meet up with the space station.

The Starliner in the first Orbital Flight Test will be the same one used for this maiden crewed mission. And it is named Calypso after Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s oceanography vessel, RV Calypso, stated NASA.

In May 2022, the second Orbital Flight Test was successful and made it to the famed floating laboratory.

After the stage separation, the Atlas V booster will fall into the ocean. Unlike SpaceX rockets, Atlas rockets do not land.

The Atlas V rocket, with the Starliner on top, stands at 171 feet (52 meters) tall. It is a bit smaller than a stacked SpaceX Falcon rocket at 229.6 feet (70 meters).

Understanding the mission

After the launch, the Starliner duo will have a more than 24-hour journey to the International Space Station, where Calypso will dock on the space station’s Harmony module, Steven Siceloff, a NASA public affairs specialist, explained to Spectrum News on Wednesday, May 29.

If all goes according to plan, it should dock autonomously at 1:50 p.m., Sunday, stated NASA.

One of the main objectives of the mission is to demonstrate the Starliner’s ability to launch and land. This will be the first time that the Starliner spacecraft will have a journey to the ISS with people onboard.

“The CFT crew is focused on testing Starliner systems in detail throughout their stay on ISS. For a flight test like this, they will not be tasked with research work on the station itself. They are qualified to do so, but for this mission, the flight testing elements have priority,” according to Siceloff.

The pair will assess the spacecraft, its displays, and cargo transfer systems; and will even go inside Starliner and close the hatch to show it can be used as a “safe haven” in case there is an emergency, NASA explained.

During the first launch attempt, former NASA astronaut and former Boeing CST-100 Starliner Director of Crew and Mission Systems Christopher J. Ferguson explained to Spectrum News what Wilmore and Williams will experience as the Starliner launches.

This mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which is designed to work with American aerospace companies to build spacecraft and rockets to send equipment, technology and astronauts from American soil.

“The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation on space station missions, which will allow for additional research time,” NASA stated.

United Launch Alliance is the joint business venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which are famed for the Atlas V and the now-retired Delta IV Heavy rockets and the new Vulcan rockets.

“In 2014, Boeing was awarded up to $4.2 billion by NASA to build, test and fly the Starliner. The contract includes six service missions, as well as an uncrewed and a crewed flight test to the ISS,” Boeing stated in a 51-page document.

Both Wilmore and Williams will be at the ISS as part-time Expedition 71 members for about eight days before they climb back onboard the Starliner and return to Earth, NASA officials stated.

“Overall, they will be in space … but the exact duration depends on mission conditions and testing of Starliner systems while at the station,” he stated.

(ISS expeditions are missions that can last about six months.)

The Starliner will have a “hard landing” in the American Southwest. Its parachutes will slow it down to 4 mph before touching the earth again. The exact location has not yet been disclosed.

Meeting the crew

When it comes to space travel, the Starliner crew are pros. Wilmore, the commander of the Crew Flight Test mission, became a NASA astronaut in July 2000.

The retired Navy veteran has been on the Atlantis shuttle mission STS-129 in 2009 and two ISS Expedition missions: 41 and 42 between 2014 and 2015.

Williams will be the pilot for this first voyage of the crewed mission. The Ohio native was selected to be a NASA astronaut in 1998 and has been on two ISS missions: Expeditions 14 and 15 in 2006 and 2007. And then 32 and 33 in 2012.

“Williams, who has spent a 322 total days in space, ranks sixth on the all-time U.S. endurance list, and second all-time for a female astronaut,” Boeing stated of the former retired Navy test pilot and captain.

Watch the launch