Boeing and NASA announced Thursday that the first manned flight of the American company’s “Starliner” space capsule, which was scheduled to take place in July after several delays, has been postponed again due to two recently spotted technical problems.
The first problem concerned the parachutes used to hold the capsule back to Earth, as part of the connection between the capsule and the parachute itself turned out to be more fragile than expected, reports Al-Rai daily.
The second problem relates to the adhesive tape used to wrap electrical cables inside the capsule. This tape has been shown to be flammable and, under certain circumstances, can present a hazard if it malfunctions.
This test flight, called the Crew Flight Test, is supposed to carry two astronauts to the International Space Station.