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WASHINGTON, June 1The first manned launch of Boeing's Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed again, NASA is broadcasting live.
The suspension of launch preparations was announced 3 minutes 50 seconds before the planned launch at 12.25 US East Coast time (19.25 Moscow time). Since the flight to the ISS does not allow for a delay in launch time, a new attempt will likely take place on reserve days, previously reported as June 2, 5 and 6.
The reasons for the cancellation of the launch, as well as the new flight date, have not yet been announced.
The launch of the newest spacecraft on a test manned flight to the ISS was supposed to take place on May 6, but was canceled two hours before the launch from – due to a malfunction of the oxygen valve of the second stage of the Atlas V launch vehicle. Later, a helium leak was discovered in the ship itself and the launch was delayed until June 1.
NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams are scheduled to fly Starliner for the first time. Both are experienced test pilots and NASA astronauts, and they also took an active part in the development of the ship.
Starliner has been built by Boeing under a contract with NASA since 2014. Construction proceeded with numerous and significant delays. Its first unmanned flight took place in 2019 and was considered unsuccessful; the ship was unable to dock with the ISS due to a failure of the on-board clock. Despite the fact that he returned safely to Earth, when analyzing data from his test flight, many different problems and shortcomings were identified. It took about two years to eliminate them, after which a successful unmanned flight to the ISS took place in 2022.
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