Boeing's new Starliner spacecraft failed to reach the International Space Station in a test flight Friday after experiencing trouble with its flight-control system.
Starliner, being developed with NASA funding to send astronauts to space, could not enter its planned orbit due to delayed thruster firings, Boeing said.
(Supplied photo shows a rocket carrying Boeing's new spacecraft Starliner lift off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 20, 2019.)
[Photo courtesy of NASA TV]
The spacecraft was launched by a rocket jointly built by Boeing and Lockheed Martin and is not carrying anyone on board. It has been placed into an orbit for landing at a military facility in New Mexico, Boeing said.
The U.S. program to send astronauts to the ISS has been delayed. NASA originally intended to fly its astronauts in 2017 after the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011.
Related coverage:
U.S. launches Space Force amid growing China, Russia capabilities
Japan to launch intelligence-gathering satellite in January
Japan's Hayabusa2 on homeward journey with main engines activated
