The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on Tuesday that it had postponed the target date for the next attempt to launch the “Starliner” space capsule produced by Boeing Company to replace the pressure valve in its booster rocket.
The new date for the first manned test flight of the space capsule will not be before May 17.
The first flight of the CST-100 Starliner vehicle is attracting many attention, as it will carry astronauts to the International Space Station.
It was greatly postponed at a time when Boeing seeks to compete with Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, to obtain a larger share of NASA’s profitable business.
The test flight was postponed on Monday, less than two hours before the countdown began, after a malfunction was discovered in the pressure regulating valve in the liquid oxygen tank in the upper stage of a rocket scheduled to launch the new capsule into orbit.
The rocket, a separate component of the Starliner capsule, was prepared for the mission by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
After postponing the launch attempt on Monday, NASA, Boeing and the coalition announced that they would try again on Friday.
But NASA later said that more time was needed after the coalition decided to “remove and replace” the faulty pressure valve.
She said this would require returning the rocket to its hangar on Wednesday to make repairs and check for leaks and other issues before the second launch attempt.
NASA also said that these fixes postponed the potential launch date for another week.
