Boeing’s first crewed Starliner launch attempt was scrubbed on May 6, 2024, because a pressure-relief valve on the Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage was buzzing. The sound came from the rocket, not from inside Starliner. Launch rules for a crewed flight did not allow the team to recycle the valve with astronauts aboard, so NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance stopped the countdown to investigate.
What caused the buzzing sound?
United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno said an oxygen pressure-relief valve on the Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage was fluttering open and closed, producing the loud buzz. It was not a noise coming from Starliner’s cabin or a reported malfunction in the spacecraft.
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Bruno said the valve might have exceeded its 200,000-cycle lifetime. That figure was his description of the valve’s cycle limit; it does not establish how many cycles the specific valve had completed. The Associated Press reported Bruno’s explanation and noted that ULA had seen similar valve behavior on satellite launches: Associated Press report.
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The valve behavior could not simply be handled the way it had been on some satellite launches. Bruno said crewed-flight rules prohibited recycling the valve while astronauts were aboard. The team therefore followed its procedures and scrubbed the attempt rather than proceeding with unresolved valve behavior.
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NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said the team would launch only when ready and fly when safe. NASA said it needed time to analyze the pressure-regulation valve on the Centaur liquid-oxygen tank: NASA’s May 6 launch update.
Did Boeing eventually launch astronauts?
Yes. NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams exited Starliner after the May 6 scrub. NASA later targeted May 10, but the first crewed Starliner test flight ultimately launched on June 5, 2024. The mission was designed as an end-to-end test flight to the International Space Station. NASA’s mission page records the launch date: Boeing Crew Flight Test.
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- BOEING CST-100 STARLINER – 1 Sheet Model with an easy difficulty level. Assembled Size: 1.97 (Diameter) x 2.17 H inches
- FROM STEEL SHEETS TO 3D – Pop out the pieces and connect using tabs and holes. Includes illustrated instructions.
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Why did the astronauts return on SpaceX instead?
The original Starliner test mission was planned to last 8 to 14 days. Propulsion-system anomalies identified during the mission led to an extended evaluation, and the flight lasted 93 days. NASA’s investigation release says Starliner returned to Earth without the astronauts in September 2024; Wilmore and Williams returned aboard SpaceX Crew-9 in March 2025: NASA’s investigation update.
The May launch scrub and the later decision to bring the crew home on another spacecraft were separate events. The scrub followed a valve issue on the Atlas V rocket; the long mission and uncrewed return followed propulsion-system anomalies associated with Starliner.
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