WASHINGTON — NASA reports that Boeing is ready to test its Starliner space capsule again on March 25, after a previous test ended badly 13 months ago. <br /><br />Reuters reported that Boeing narrowly missed a "catastrophic failure" during the crew capsule's previous flight test on 20 December 2019. <br /><br />On that occasion the capsule was not manned and managed to land safely, after plans to dock with the ISS had to be aborted. <br /><br />A panel later found that the failure was caused by problems with the spacecraft's automated timer, while unrelated software problems could have caused a more catastrophic failure. <br /><br />Boeing is building the Starliner capsule for NASA, which has also subsidized SpaceX to build a competing capsule, called Crew Dragon. <br /><br />The capsules are aimed at ending NASA's reliance on Russia's aging Soyuz capsules. <br /><br />Boeing's upcoming March 25 test would pave the way for its first manned test mission, if successful, whereas SpaceX's Crew Dragon has already completed two manned test missions.
