NASA is delaying the launch of the next crew to the space station as it continues to work through issues with the thrusters on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In a blog post, the agency said the launch of the Crew-9 mission, aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, is now scheduled for no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24.
“This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize planning for the return of the agency’s Boeing crewed flight test, currently docked to the orbiting laboratory,” NASA wrote. “Starliner ground teams are taking their time to analyze results from recent docked hot-fire tests, finalize flight justification for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability prior to Starliner’s return to Earth.”
The agency added that “NASA and Boeing continue to assess spacecraft readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return.” NASA was supposed to conduct a flight readiness review to make a determination on Starliner’s return last Thursday, but that meeting never took place.
On Friday, Boeing shared a list of tests conducted both on the ground and in space following the CFT mission's June 5 launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Station. This included hardware analysis for the upcoming long-duration Starliner-1 and Starliner-2 missions.
“Boeing remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to safely return with crew. We continue to support NASA’s requests for additional testing, data, analysis and review to confirm the spacecraft’s ability to safely undock and land,” Boeing wrote. “Our confidence is based on this wealth of valuable testing from Boeing and NASA. Testing has confirmed that 27 of the 28 RCS boosters are healthy and have returned to full operational capability.”
“Starliner’s propulsion system also maintains redundancy and helium levels remain stable. The data also support assessments of the root causes of the helium and propellant issues and the flight rationale for the return of Starliner and its crew to Earth.”
NASA is preparing to host a press teleconference on Wednesday, August 7, to discuss the manifest change and the reasons behind these changes.
Reorganization of docking ports and launch platforms
Before the CFT mission launched, NASA officials described their confidence in scheduling the flight test during June because it was a relatively light period of activity on the ISS, so even if the mission lasted a little longer than the advertised eight to ten days, they had room in the schedule.
However, it has been more than 60 days since NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, and until either the Starliner or Crew-8's Dragon spacecraft depart the ISS, there are no free docking ports to accommodate the Crew-9 mission.
NASA prefers to have direct interaction on the space station between arriving and departing crews, which it calls a “direct handoff.” The only time in the ISS Commercial Crew Program era when this didn't happen was when weather delayed the launch of the Crew-3 mission to the point where they decided Crew-2 needed to be brought down before the next launch.
NASA therefore said it prefers to leave Crew 8 in place until Crew 9 arrives, meaning Starliner has to undock and return to Earth first. That will also free up the forward port on the ISS’ Harmony module, the preferred docking site for spacecraft arriving from the United States.
NASA also announced that the Crew-9 mission will be moved from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center to Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Station. This will “avoid conflicts with pad preparations for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission beginning this September,” according to NASA.
The planetary launch window for Europa Clipper opens on October 10, and SpaceX typically needs about three weeks to convert its launch pad from a Falcon 9 to a Falcon Heavy configuration.
The change of launch sites for Crew-9 will mark the first crewed launch from SLC-40 since SpaceX finished erecting a new crew access tower in 2023. At a briefing at Johnson Space Center in late July, NASA officials said they are nearly done certifying SLC-40 for Crew Dragon launches.
NASA said the manifest change also means the next Cargo Dragon mission, CRS-31, will not launch before mid-October.
Next up to bat
Though not mentioned in Tuesday's announcement, the delay of the Crew-9 launch also means that the commercial astronaut mission, Polaris Dawn, could actually take off first. It is likely to launch from Florida as early as August 24.
The mission’s website still lists launch as “no earlier than late summer 2024,” but in an Aug. 4 post on X, formerly Twitter, mission commander Jared Isaacman stated, “I don’t think it will be too long before we’re flying toward KSC.”
The next private astronaut mission to the ISS is also waiting its turn to take off. The four-member crew of Axiom Space's AX-4 Mission It is likely to fly in spring 2025.
