Company Cites Delays In NASA's Development Schedule

Boeing's Starliner manned spacecraft will not carry humans into space until sometime in 2018, according to a company executive.

GeekWire reports that in a briefing for investors last week, Boeing EVP and CEO of the company's defense, space and security division said that the first unmanned flight is planned for 2017, with a manned mission to follow in 2018. But spokeswoman Rebecca Regan told GeekWire that there have been challenges schedule had slipped due to a number of challenges with the spacecraft, including aeroacoustic issues and the ULA  Atlas 5 launch schedule.

Boeing this month assembled a structural test version of the CST-100 Starliner, and astronauts are already training on a simulator.

The delay is seen as minor, given that Boeing had originally targeted December of this year for a trip to ISS with the Starliner.

But if Boeing is delayed to 2018, SpaceX could be the first commercial space company to launch humans into space from American soil, which would be seen as a coup for the company.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.spacex.com, www.nasa.gov