Starliner launch postponed again

After a helium leak found in the service module traced to a reaction control on the system thruster, Boeing decided to push the scheduled human launch from Friday 17th to Tuesday 21st. The starliner is going to launch on top off the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V from Cape Canaveral. Helium within a spacecraft thruster system allows the thrusters to fire and is not flammable nor toxic to humans. This is the latest delay after the buzzing pressure regulation valve on a liquid oxygen tank was found in the Atlas V’s upper stage that prevented the launch on May 6th, which although was originally planned to add a 4 day delay to launch, a unanimous decision was made by NASA and ULA that the valve in question needed replaced which put it back to May 17th. This leaves astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back in quarantine.

With Boeing being one of NASA’s prime contractors for the Artemis missions, does the constant delays and issues being found in their rockets (alongside their declining reputation in the aerospace sector) bode well for their future as a leading force in the drive to explore both the moon and mars, or will future missions be as riddled with technical challenges like the ones we are seeing in Starliner today?