Boeing crewed space launch postponed for safety check

Boeing's first crewed space flight was postponed just two hours before launch for a safety check, Nasa officials say.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were already in position inside the Starliner when the decision to halt was made because of a potential issue with an oxygen relief valve in the Atlas rocket run by the United Launch Alliance.

There was no issue with Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft which sits on top of the rocket.

Flight engineers discovered that the valve had been rapidly opening and closing in the period before launch and so the countdown was aborted.

The flight team are currently examining the data to see how much energy was expended by the valve. If it has exceeded its operational life it will need to be replaced, which ULA say its engineers can do in a few days.