Orbital Flight Test-2 Starliner launch postponed until at least 3 August (NASA)

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[NOTE: NASA press release, no copyright concerns]

Linda Herridge
Posted on July 30, 2021

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket was rolled back from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to ULA’s nearby Vertical Integration Facility on July 30 to avoid potential inclement weather in advance of Orbital Flight Test-2’s (OFT-2) launch to the International Space Station.

NASA and Boeing agreed to stand down from the July 30 attempt to allow the space station team time to continue working checkouts of the newly arrived Roscosmos’ Nauka module and to ensure the station will be ready for Starliner’s arrival. The earliest possible launch opportunity to the space station is no earlier than 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3, from Space Launch Complex-41.

The U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 60% chance of favorable conditions for the Aug. 3 launch opportunity with the cumulous cloud rule, surface electric fields rule, and the lighting rule as the primary weather concerns.

The OFT-2 mission for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program will test the end-to-end capabilities of Starliner from launch to docking to a return to Earth in the desert of the western United States.

Learn more about NASA’s commercial crew program by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts

Earliest Launch Opportunity for NASA’s Boeing OFT-2 Mission is Aug. 3
Amanda Griffin
Posted on July 29, 2021

On July 29, 2021, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: United Launch Alliance

NASA and Boeing have elected to stand down from Friday’s launch attempt of the agency’s second Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2) mission. Currently, the earliest available launch opportunity is 1:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 3. The International Space Station team will use the time to continue working checkouts of the newly arrived Roscosmos Nauka multipurpose laboratory module (MLM) and to ensure the station will be ready for Starliner’s arrival.

Launch preparations will resume following a final decision from the International Space Station and Commercial Crew Program teams for the next opportunity to send Starliner on its way to complete the OFT-2 mission, which will set the stage for the first Crew Flight Test.

Earlier Thursday, Starliner atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket was moved to its seaside launch pad for standard launch preparations. Teams are assessing moving the vehicle back to its Vehicle Integration Facility to protect it from weather until launch preparations resume. Starliner and Atlas V are in a safe, flight-ready configuration and do not require any near-term servicing.

The Atlas V was assembled throughout July, which included the transfer of Starliner from Boeing’s spacecraft processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Launch Complex 41 for mating atop the rocket


https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2021/07/30/orbital-flight-test-2-starliner-atlas-v-roll-back-to-vertical-integration-facility/