Atlas 5 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

March 6, 2026

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NASA, Boeing further delay Starliner Crew Flight Test launch amid ongoing helium leak review

May 17, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The shift in launch date is to allow more time to build in redundancy to account for the helium leak. The launch is currently scheduled for no earlier than Saturday, May 25, at 3:09 p.m. EDT (1909 UTC).

Boeing Starliner launch slips to May 21 to verify helium leak fix

May 14, 2024 William Harwood

Launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying Boeing’s Starliner capsule is slipping another four days, from Friday to next Tuesday, to give engineers time to make sure a helium leak in the crew ship’s propulsion system has been resolved, officials said Tuesday.

Atlas 5 valve repair will delay Starliner’s first crewed mission to May 17 at the earliest

May 8, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

United Launch Alliance (ULA) is set to roll its Atlas 5 rocket and the Starliner spacecraft back to the Vertical Integration Facility on Wednesday to begin working on the problematic valve. The new launch date is no earlier than Friday, May 17, at 6:16 p.m. EDT (2016 UTC).

Starliner launch scrubbed by trouble with a valve in the Atlas 5’s Centaur upper stage

May 7, 2024 William Harwood

An Atlas 5 rocket carrying astronauts for the first time was fueled for blastoff Monday night to boost Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner crew ferry ship into orbit for its first piloted test flight. But trouble with a valve in the rocket’s upper stage forced mission managers to order a scrub just two hours before takeoff.

Long-delayed Boeing Starliner ready for first piloted flight to space station

May 6, 2024 William Harwood

Years behind schedule and more than a billion dollars over budget, Boeing’s Starliner capsule is finally poised for its first piloted launch Monday, a critical test flight carrying two veteran astronauts to the International Space Station and in so doing, demonstrate an alternative to SpaceX’s already operational Crew Dragon.

NASA astronauts arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test

April 25, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the Cape in T-38 jets, the first such arrival since the space shuttle era. The mission is aiming to launch on Monday, May 6, at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 UTC).

Boeing, ULA roll Starliner spacecraft out to pad 41 ahead of Crew Flight Test launch in May

April 16, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The rollout operation on Tuesday followed a day of evaluations using Boeing’s weight and center-of-gravity machine to determine the final measurements on the spacecraft. Launch is still targeting May 6 at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 UTC).

Boeing, NASA target May 1 for first crewed flight of Starliner to the space station

March 26, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Assuming a May 1 launch, the Starliner spacecraft would dock with the ISS on May 2. The spacecraft will launch on the 100th flight of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, ULA mark 60th anniversary of RL10 rocket engine

November 28, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

A rocket engine with a long pedigree marked a big milestone on Monday. It’s 60 years since the hydrogen-fueled RL10 engine debuted onboard a Centaur upper stage launched from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 27, 1963.

Atlas 5 launches Amazon Kuiper satellites for tests of space-based internet service

October 7, 2023 William Harwood

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off Friday and boosted a pair of prototype internet satellites into orbit for Amazon’s Kuiper program, the latest entry in the increasingly competitive space-based broadband market currently dominated by SpaceX.