NASA and Boeing have completed a joint checkpoint review of the first crewed flight mission of the latter’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Ninety-five percent of the certification for the Crew Flight Test mission is complete, including approval of Starliner’s crew module batteries, and all Orbital Flight Test-2 anomalies are closed, NASA said Friday.
“In addition to the closeout of ongoing work, the team remains vigilant on tracking new technical issues as we complete certification for crewed flight,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
The team is now preparing to fuel, roll out to the launch site and integrate the spacecraft with the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
NASA and Boeing said emerging issues must be resolved before the team decides to fuel Starliner in June, including replacing a by-pass valve in the active thermal control system on the spacecraft’s service module.
Engineers are also evaluating if a tape used on the spacecraft to prevent wire chafing is acceptable for crewed flight missions.