13 valves failed to open on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, a more widespread problem than previously reported

The discovery that the valves were closed led to the scrubbing of last week’s launch. Boeing said it still hopes for a test flight this month.

August 9, 2021 at 1:54 p.m. EDT

The rocket carrying Boeing's Starliner capsule. Its launch to the International Space Station was delayed last week after a preflight test. (Joe Skipper/Reuters)

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Boeing said Monday that the problem that scrubbed the launch of its Starliner spacecraft last week was caused when 13 valves in its propulsion system failed to properly open during a preflight test, a more widespread issue than was previously known.

Over the weekend, engineers were able to open seven of those valves and restore them to working order, the company said, and it is still hopeful that it could launch the test flight by the end of the month. But Boeing still does not know what caused the problem, which forced yet another delay in a program that has been plagued by serious issues for years.