Boeing Starliner launch, carrying Indian-origin Sunita Williams, called off due to rocket glitch

A new spacecraft, Boeing Starliner, scheduled for its first crewed launch for International Space Station on Tuesday with astronauts Butch Wilmore and Indian-origin Sunita Williams, was postponed due to a technical glitch encountered by its rocket, Atlas V.

Boeing Crew Flight Test crew members Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore work in the Boeing Starliner simulator at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Nov. 3, 2022. The first flight of Boeing���s Starliner capsule with a crew on board is scheduled for Monday, May 6, 2024. (NASA/Robert Markowitz/PTI)(AP05_06_2024_000070A)(AP)

“United Launch Alliance launch director Tom Heter III has made the decision to the launch team that launch operations will not continue tonight for Atlas V and Starliner,” an official statement said.