Starliner launch scrubs again with less than four minutes to go; computer sequencer blamed

Scrubbed again! This time, NASA's first Boeing Starliner mission carrying astronauts got called off with fewer than four minutes left in the countdown Saturday afternoon at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. No new launch date has been set.

"Hold. The countdown has been stopped. Safing of the Atlas V, Starliner and launch pad systems is underway," United Launch Alliance officials announced in a 12:22 p.m. EDT tweet, just three minutes before the scheduled liftoff from Launch Complex 41.

NASA Commercial Crew officials later announced that the mission scrubbed "due to the computer ground launch sequencer not loading into the correct operational configuration after proceeding into terminal count."

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule in Florida

At a post-scrub news conference Saturday afternoon, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said crews will work into the evening to investigate the issue behind the scrub and possibly be ready to launch Sunday. But Saturday evening came the decision: they were skipping a Sunday attempt.

"NASA, Boeing and ULA are foregoing a Crew Flight Test launch attempt Sunday, June 2, to give the team additional time to assess a ground support equipment issue" at the launch pad, the statement said. They said they'd provide an update on next steps Sunday, noting other launch opportunities were available on Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6.

Bruno described the computer ground launch sequencer ? which caused the scrub ? as three main computers separate from the launch pad. Each computer has multiple cards in it linked to a separate function. ULA suspects the issue may be with one of the cards. If that is the case, teams will simply replace it.

"I know it's a little disappointing," said Steve Stitch, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "We were all excited. Butch and Suni were excited to fly. This is kind of the way spaceflight is."

He added: "This is my 37th year at NASA today, and I've been doing human spaceflight for a long time. Every time you go to the pad for a crewed flight, or really any flight, you got a chance of scrubbing."

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were initially scheduled to guide the Starliner capsule on its first crewed test flight on May 6 — but that mission scrubbed with about two hours to go because of a liquid-oxygen valve issue on the Atlas V rocket's Centaur upper stage.

Then during repairs, crews discovered a thruster helium leak on the spacecraft, triggering more delays leading up to Saturday's unsuccessful launch attempt. Ultimately, Boeing teams determined the leak would not impact Starliner's ability to fly safely.

Stich reported that as of Saturday, the helium leak was about half of what it was before. Originally leaking 80 psi per minute, it was down to 40 psi per minute.

“We’re at the finish line. Let’s take one more step,” said Bruno.

For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Boeing Starliner launch scrubs again with less than four minutes to go