WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA and Boeing (NYSE:) said they postponed the launch of the Boeing Starliner crew capsule again on Friday, giving them four more days to evaluate a helium leak before attempting to launch the spacecraft's first two astronauts into space. Friday.
The Starliner's takeoff from Florida was postponed several times in May, and was last scheduled to take off on May 21.
Aside from the helium leak, a technical problem with the Atlas (NYSE:) 5 rocket led to an early delay. The program is several years behind schedule and exceeds its allocated budget by more than $1.5 billion.
NASA said the latest postponement will give more time “to finalize the next steps that address the stable helium leak.” The launch is now scheduled to take place no later than 3:09 PM EST (1909 GMT) on Saturday, May 25.
Boeing has been developing the Starliner for more than a decade to provide NASA with a second American spacecraft capable of ferrying astronauts to and from the International Space Station. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, built under the same NASA program, launched astronauts for the first time into space in 2020.
The latest Starliner mission, called a crewed flight test, is scheduled to be the final test before the spacecraft is certified by the US space agency for routine astronaut missions to the International Space Station. Boeing completed an unmanned Starliner flight to the International Space Station in 2022 after years of technical and administrative problems.