Last June, Starliner made his first inhabited flight to the International Space Station (ISS). What was to be a one -week mission turned into a nine -month stay for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The cause? Helium leaks and propellant failures that forced NASA to prolong the mission and repatriate the crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
These incidents highlighted the flaws of the Starliner’s propulsion system. Overheating ” doghusses “, These compartments housing propellants, led to the swelling of teflon joints, thus disturbing the flow of the fuel. A problem that had not been anticipated and required in -depth analyzes.
