Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.Boeing hit again on Wednesday at strategies that two Nasa astronauts had develop into “stranded” on the Worldwide Area Station due to issues encountered by the corporate’s Starliner spacecraft on its long-delayed first crewed flight.Nasa and Boeing determined final week to postpone, for the second time, the return flight of the spacecraft, which docked with the house station on June 6, till an unspecified date in July. Starliner was “performing properly”, the corporate stated, and astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore may return to earth at any time, if mandatory. The delay comes on the worst doable time for Boeing, which continues to be mired in controversy over the security tradition in its business aerospace division. Earlier this month Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s outgoing chief government, was hauled earlier than the US Senate to reply questions concerning the firm’s security failures following a mid-air blowout of a door panel on one among its 737 Max plane in January. The corporate has been locked in an nearly everlasting state of disaster since two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 folks.Boeing’s Starliner, atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, lifts off from Area Launch Advanced 41 throughout Nasa’s Boeing crew flight check on June 05 © Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesThe defence and house enterprise, in the meantime, has been struggling financially, incurring losses of $1.7bn final 12 months. The Starliner programme itself is a number of years late and billions of {dollars} over price range. The spacecraft’s first crewed flight had been postponed twice earlier than lifting off on June 5. The corporate insisted nonetheless that the delayed return was not a failure. “It’s a check flight,” the corporate stated. “The mission continues to be going and it’s going properly.” Nasa is hoping Starliner will ultimately be a viable competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for cargo and crew to the ISS and ultimately the Moon. The US company had determined to delay the astronauts’ return to place a while between the flight and upcoming spacewalks by different astronauts on the house station. These had additionally been postponed due to points with previous house fits. The delay would additionally enable engineers extra time to evaluate issues recognized on Starliner’s flight to the ISS, Nasa stated.Starliner suffered helium leaks on its long-awaited first crewed flight, in addition to issues with 5 of its thrusters. Boeing stated the helium leaks had been fastened and all however one of many thrusters had been now operational. Nonetheless, it was determined to spend extra time assessing the causes, as they affected the service module which might not return to earth. This information can be misplaced on return so “we’re taking time to know the problems additional,” Boeing stated. Steve Stich, supervisor of Nasa’s business crew programme, stated final Friday that the company was “letting the info drive our resolution making” across the helium leaks and thruster issues. Starliner was “performing properly in orbit whereas docked to the house station,” he added.