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NASA and Boeing said a helium leak on the Starliner spacecraft is “stabilized” and will not prevent two astronauts from launching into space next week after more than a decade of preparation.
NASA and Boeing officials say the cause of the leak in Starliner’s propulsion system has been identified. At a press conference It was safe to fly on Friday.
The previous launch was aborted just before takeoff on May 6 due to a separate issue, after a “small” leak was discovered in a flange on one of Starliner’s thrusters, NASA program manager Steve Stich said at a press conference.
A few days after it was discovered, “the leak proved itself to be stable,” Boeing Vice President Mark Nappi added.
He said design vulnerabilities were “extremely rare” and “not a flight safety issue.”
“We can handle up to four more breaches,” Stich said, “and with this breach, we can handle even a 100-fold increase in the breach rate.”
Boeing’s Starliner is currently scheduled to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) on June 1, for a week-long stay before returning home.
There will be backup launch opportunities on June 2nd, June 5th and June 6th.
Boeing is trying to catch up with SpaceX, which has been ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS on its Dragon spacecraft since 2020. Starliner’s maiden flight comes amid continuing scrutiny of the safety culture surrounding Boeing’s separate passenger planes division.
Starliner encountered problems during unmanned test flights in 2019 and 2021.
A Boeing spokesperson spoke to Business Insider about Friday’s press conference. NASA did not immediately respond to BI’s request for comment.