Previous intermediate checks of the Starliner spacecraft before the second test flight were completed with repair and restoration work, after which the launch was postponed from March 25 to April 2. However, as expected, the second Boeing Starliner capsule test flight for NASA really won’t take place on April 2.

NASA and Boeing have jointly announced that the second unmanned Starliner test flight to the ISS (OFT-2) may not take place at all in April. «NASA also weighs the amount of checks and analyzes required prior to the test flight, and agrees on a timetable for the spacecraft’s flight to the International Space Station. “, – said in a statement.

April is already a busy time at the orbital laboratory: it is expected that the current Russian crew will be replaced by the delivery of new specialists by the Soyuz spacecraft, and the new SpaceX Crew-2 mission, which will deliver new astronauts from NASA and JAXA. Boeing cannot postpone the launch date from April 2 to a later date in the same month, but a new date for the spacecraft’s orbital tests has yet to be set, the statement said.

OFT-2 should be a crucial milestone in the Starliner program as Boeing aims to recover from a failed mission in December 2019 when the spacecraft did not reach the ISS in unmanned mode. NASA identified 80 items to be corrected before the next launch, and Boeing had to spend a lot of time fixing the shortcomings.

Boeing has already conducted test runs and is due to launch a full simulated mission that will allow the task force to practice before the actual launch. Power-up tests and other tests of the Starliner OFT-2 with new avionics units have also been successfully completed. Everything is ready for fueling the spacecraft and assembling it with a launch vehicle, which should take place in the near future.

NASA plans to use SpaceX Dragon and Boeing Starliner spacecraft to deliver most of the American astronauts to the ISS, breaking its dependence on Russia, which used the Soyuz spacecraft to deliver all astronauts into orbit between 2011 and 2020, following the collapse of the US space shuttle program. Both American ships can accommodate four people, not three, as in the Soyuz.