Boeing Starliner has another launch scrubbed for technical issue: What to know

Boeing's Starliner will have to wait at least another day before liftoff.

NASA said Saturday's launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida was scrubbed around 12:40 p.m. Saturday about 4 minutes before liftoff.

NASA said the launch attempt was stopped "due to the computer ground launch sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count," in a post on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.

This follows several delays including, most recently, a May 6 launch halted by a series of technical issues, an oxygen leak and a helium leak from the capsule's propulsion system.

Starliner has a possible backup launch opportunity at 12:03 p.m. Sunday, NASA said.

After that, crews would stand down awaiting launch opportunities on Wednesday and Thursday, as reported by Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network.

You can watch NASA launches on USA TODAY's YouTube channel and through NASA via NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, on YouTube or on the agency's website.

What is the mission for Boeing's Starliner?

The Boeing Crew Flight Test is meant to carry two NASA astronauts: Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, both former Navy pilots, to and from the International Space Station.

Once on board, Wilmore and Williams will stay at the ISS for about a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems.

What is the Boeing Starliner?

The Starliner was designed to accommodate a crew of no more than seven for missions to low-Earth orbit. On NASA missions, the capsule would carry four astronauts along with a mix of cargo and other scientific instruments to and from the space station.

If Starliner is successful, NASA will begin the final process of certifying the spacecraft and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station, according to the U.S. space agency.

Boeing was awarded $4.8 billion from NASA in 2014 to develop Starliner, a private industry-built vehicle that can ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

Competitor, SpaceX, which recently saw the return of its eighth crew sent to the ISS, was awarded $3.1 billion to develop its respective spacecraft, as part of NASA’s commercial crew program. NASA has also paid SpaceX $2.9 billion to develop the first commercial human lander for the agency's Artemis moon missions and eventually trips to Mars.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta.

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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