A technical issue has forced NASA engineers to call off Monday’s launch of the Starliner spacecraft.
The decision to scrub the launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida came just two hours before the ULA’s Atlas V rocket was due to lift off at 10:34 p.m. ET, and just minutes after NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been strapped into their seats inside the Starliner spacecraft.
Details are still coming through about the decision to stop the countdown clock, but commentators said it was due to an issue with an oxygen relief valve on Centaur, the second stage of the Atlas V rocket.
“This decision was not made lightly and was done out of an abundance of caution,” a NASA official said shortly after the decision was announced.
NASA chief Bill Nelson reiterated the remarks, saying in a post on social media that the “first priority is safety.”
Standing down on tonight’s attempt to launch #Starliner. As I’ve said before, @NASA’s first priority is safety. We go when we’re ready. https://t.co/KIasomZG66
— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) May 7, 2024
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