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| Boeing astronaut ship stalls in orbit | Boeing astronaut ship stalls in orbit |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The Boeing company is going to have to cut short the uncrewed demonstration flight of its new astronaut capsule. | The Boeing company is going to have to cut short the uncrewed demonstration flight of its new astronaut capsule. |
| The Starliner launched successfully on its Atlas rocket from Florida, but then suffered technical problems that prevented it from taking the right path to the International Space Station. | |
| It appears the capsule burnt too much fuel as it fired its engines, leaving an insufficient supply to complete its mission. | |
| Starliner will now come back to Earth. | Starliner will now come back to Earth. |
| A landing is planned in the New Mexico desert in about 48 hours. | A landing is planned in the New Mexico desert in about 48 hours. |
| The Administrator of Nasa, Jim Bridenstine, said in a press conference that Starliner had experienced a timing "anomaly". This led the automated capsule to become confused over where it was in its mission. | |
| Flight controllers recognised the problem but were unable to intervene quickly enough to correct an engine burn because the capsule was passing between satellite links. | |
| Mr Bridenstine suggested that had astronauts been aboard, they could have been able to correct the fault and successfully get the craft to the space station. | Mr Bridenstine suggested that had astronauts been aboard, they could have been able to correct the fault and successfully get the craft to the space station. |
| "A lot of things went right," he said. "This is why we test." | "A lot of things went right," he said. "This is why we test." |
| Not since 2011, when the shuttles were retired, have Americans launched from their own soil; US astronauts have been hitching rides in Russian Soyuz capsules instead. | Not since 2011, when the shuttles were retired, have Americans launched from their own soil; US astronauts have been hitching rides in Russian Soyuz capsules instead. |
| The Starliner, and another capsule called Dragon from the SpaceX company, have been developed to reinstate the capability. | |
| The business model will be different from the past, however. Instead of owning and operating the new capsules, Nasa will simply buy seats in the craft. And Boeing and SpaceX will also be free to sell any spare capacity to others - other space agencies and commercial concerns. | |
| Lift-off atop an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida took place at 06:36 local time (11:36 GMT) on Friday. | Lift-off atop an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida took place at 06:36 local time (11:36 GMT) on Friday. |
| The automated mission to the ISS had been scheduled to last a week, with the capsule coming home to the White Sands testing range and using parachutes and airbags to make a soft landing on desert terrain in the early hours of 28 December. | The automated mission to the ISS had been scheduled to last a week, with the capsule coming home to the White Sands testing range and using parachutes and airbags to make a soft landing on desert terrain in the early hours of 28 December. |
| Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos | Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos |