---
title: "Boeing Spacecraft Springs More Leaks as It Sputters to the Space Station"
description: "After years of delays, Boeing finally managed to get its plagued Starliner capsule off the ground. It's now springing even more helium leaks."
date: "2024-06-06"
modified: "2024-06-06"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-spacecraft-more-leaks"
categories:
  - "Boeing"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "boeing"
  - "starliner"
  - "the digest"
---

# Boeing Spacecraft Springs More Leaks as It Sputters to the Space Station

![After years of delays, Boeing finally managed to get its plagued Starliner capsule off the ground. It's now springing even more helium leaks.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/boeing-spacecraft-more-leaks.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Leak Mill

After years of delays, Boeing finally managed to get its plagued Starliner capsule [off the ground](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-starliner-spacecraft-launch-astronauts>) this week, with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on board.

And while it's well on its way to visit the International Space Station and is scheduled to dock later this afternoon, Boeing has [discovered even more leaks](<https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/06/science/boeing-starliner-new-helium-leaks-scn/index.html>) on Starliner during the voyage, clearly showing the aerospace giant still has a mountain of work ahead of it.

Boeing has since said that "helium is used in spacecraft thruster systems to allow the thrusters to fire and is not combustible or toxic," and that the leak doesn't pose a "safety issue for the crew, the vehicle or the mission."

According to a NASA livestream, two of the three helium leaks have already been corrected, and the craft is [still expected](<https://x.com/Space_Station/status/1798676853647139102>) to rendezvous as scheduled with the ISS just after noon Eastern time.

It's nonetheless a worrying new development, particularly given Boeing's [disastrous track record](<https://futurism.com/boeing-excuses-push-back-first-astronaut-launch>) so far when it comes to its maligned astronaut shuttle.

## Hole Plug

The company [had detected a helium leak](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/leak-boeing-spacecraft-astronaut-launch>) prior to launch, with Boeing deciding [that it wasn't worth fixing](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-will-launch-spacraft-with-leak>). Steve Stich, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, reassured the public at the time that "we can handle this particular leak if that leak rate were to grow even up to 100 times."

But as it turns out, it was only one of several helium leaks, with Williams and Wilmore being notified right before bedtime that they had to shut off two offending valves.

"Looks like we picked up a couple more helium leaks," mission control told the pair during the broadcast.

"We are ready to... find out exactly what you mean by picked up another helium leak, so give it to us," Wilmore later replied.

The leaks are unlikely to be an issue as the two astronauts travel to the space station, but how the development will affect Boeing's upcoming launches remains to be seen.

"During all of Starliner's rendezvous and proximity operations, we'll keep those propellant manifolds open and they will stay open until docking," Boeing aerospace engineer Jim May said in a [statement](<https://x.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1798692379467362761>).

**More on the launch:** *[Boeing Spacecraft Finally Manages to Limp Off the Earth](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/boeing-starliner-spacecraft-launch-astronauts>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)