Boeing space launch: Starliner mission scrubbed two hours before liftoff with NASA astronauts

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Starliner launch scheduled for late Monday evening will be delayed again after being scrubbed two hours before liftoff. The Boeing spacecraft was supposed to take two of NASA's most experienced astronauts to the International Space Station after more than a decade of engineering. 

NASA said the launch was scrubbed as teams evaluated an oxygen relief valve on the Centaur Stage on the Atlas V. NASA's astronauts, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, have since gotten off the Starliner and are returning to their crew quarters. 

Williams and Wilmore were supposed to be the first NASA astronauts to crew a Starliner mission. Both astronauts are retired U.S. Navy captains. 

Pictured: Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore

Boeing came up with the idea for the Starliner in 2012 and got a NASA contract four years later. However, setbacks gave SpaceX a private monopoly on low-orbit missions.

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"If we could go back the past three years and talk about the capabilities of the spacecraft- what it was then as envisioned and then where it’s at now after these discoveries," said Wilmore. "It’s really leaps and bounds forward."

After the launch was scrubbed once again Monday night, Boeing's time to shine after working through glitches and finally getting its Starliner ready to launch will have to wait. 

NASA wants private competition to drive more innovation and possibly bring down launch costs. Also, having another provider would allow for an additional option if the other encounters issues.

Williams and Wilmore were scheduled to launch on the CST-100 Starliner on a ULA Atlas V rocket at 10:34 p.m. on Monday at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

It would have taken the duo about 26 hours to reach the International Space Station (ISS). The plan was for the astronauts to stay aboard for about a week.

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