The first astronaut flight to the International Space Station (ISS) of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was postponed againfrom March to April 2024, a year later than planned.

While Boeing is targeting March to have the spacecraft ready to fly, the teams decided during a review of preparations for an April launch.”will be better suited for the upcoming crew changes and cargo resupply missions this spring” reports NASA.

It all depends on a successful high-altitude drop test with modifications to the parachute to increase safety, which has now also been postponed from November to “early 2024,” in addition to meeting other critical technical and safety issues at both Boeing and Boeing. NASA.

Starliner’s crew and service modules remain docked and await the continuation of standard pre-flight processing. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is also in Florida at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, awaiting integration with the spacecraft.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will fly aboard Starliner on their first crewed flight to the space station, continue training for their approximately eight-day mission to the orbital laboratory, details Europe Press.

Starliner completed two unmanned flight tests, including Orbital Flight Test-2, which docked with the space station on May 21, 2022, following a launch two days earlier from Kennedy. The spacecraft remained docked with the space station for four days before successfully landing at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Starliner is the alternate use for Space X’s Crew Dragonwhich is already in widespread use, for the private transport of astronauts to the NASA-contracted International Space Station.