The troubled project has faced extensive delays and technical issues throughout its decade-long development, including a last-minute glitch in a test launch earlier this month that forced Boeing to abandon attempts to send it to the International Space Station (ISS).
Since then, its engineers have been trying to tackle an issue causing 13 of Starliner’s valves not to open that was only discovered while it was siting on the launchpad ready to blast off. Boeing said that it has now got nine of the valves to function normally and is still working to address the other four.
The test flight was supposed to see Starliner carry supplies and test equipment to the ISS in order to demonstrate its capabilities in launching, docking, and then re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere while performing a safe desert landing.
Citing people “familiar with the matter”, the WSJ said that it became increasingly apparent that the capsule would need to be separated from the rocket...