CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NEWSnet/AP) — Boeing’s first astronaut launch is off until late next week because of a valve problem in the rocket that needs to be replaced.

The countdown was halted Monday night after a pressure-relief valve in the Atlas V rocket.

Engineers for United Launch Alliance determined Tuesday that the valve has exceeded its design limit and must now be removed, pushing liftoff to no earlier than May 17.

The NASA astronauts assigned to the Starliner capsule’s test flight to the International Space Station — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — will remain at Cape Canaveral.

Starliner’s debut test flight without a crew in 2019 ended up in the wrong orbit and failed to reach the space station, forcing Boeing to repeat the demo before astronauts could fly. Following more reviews last year, the company had to fix the capsule’s parachutes and yank out a mile of flammable tape.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX a decade ago to ferry astronauts to and from the space station after the shuttle program ended, paying the private companies billions of dollars. SpaceX has been in the orbital taxi business since 2020.

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