Boeing Starliner Launch Delayed Again, May Fly on May 25 with Sunita Williams: NASA

Boeing Starliner’s crewed manned mission is delayed yet again because of a helium leak detected in one of the capsule’s thrusters, said NASA on Saturday.

The spacecraft, aiming to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams to the space station, is now expected to be launched on May 25.

“NASA, @BoeingSpace, and @ulalaunch are now targeting no earlier than 3:09 pm ET May 25 for the launch of the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission,” NASA said in a post on X.

“Teams will use the additional time to finalise next steps that address a stable helium leak on the #Starliner service module,” it added.

Starliner’s first crewed mission was planned on May 7. The launch was shelved due to a valve issue on the upper stage of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The mission then slipped to May 10, and later May 21, due to a helium leak.

The astronauts Wilmore and Williams remain quarantined in Houston as pre-launch operations progress.

The Starliner mission aims to carry astronauts and cargo for future NASA missions to low Earth orbit, and beyond.