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A scheduled launch of Boeing’s Starliner space capsule was aborted Saturday just minutes before its scheduled liftoff time.

With 3:50 left in the countdown, the missile’s computer initiates a hold. The spacecraft must launch at a precise time to catch up with the station, meaning the mission will have to wait at least another day to begin.

NASA said the crash was due to “the ground launch computer not loading into the correct operational configuration after switching to a terminal count” and that teams were working to figure out the cause.

The space capsule was to carry two NASA astronauts from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a 25-hour flight to the International Space Station. The planned mission was the first time a commercially built capsule was to carry humans.

NASA has not yet announced whether the launch attempt will take place on Sunday.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams planned to take the Starliner on its first flight, testing the vehicle before operational missions for NASA. Since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011, NASA has partnered with two commercial companies — Boeing and SpaceX — to transport astronauts to and from the space station.

Saturday’s cleanup comes roughly a month after the Starliner was originally scheduled to fly to the station, and that launch was already years behind schedule.

Earlier, in a twist familiar to many air travelers here on Earth, NASA announced that the astronauts’ luggage had been abandoned. Lost baggage is not Boeing’s fault. The space station’s urine recycling system failed earlier this week, and NASA had to make room to send a new pump.

“We ended up pulling out two crew suitcases, they had clothes on them,” said Dana Weigel, NASA’s International Space Station program manager, during a press briefing on Friday.

Weigel said there are spare clothes and hygiene items aboard the space station that the crew can use during their stay.

Here’s what else you need to know about the already clean launch.

This was to be the first Starliner flight with humans on board

In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a $4.2 billion contract to build the Starliner as a vehicle to carry astronauts on routine missions to the International Space Station.

Since then, the Starliner program has fallen well behind schedule and over budget. Boeing estimated that the program cost the company more than $1 billion in losses.

At the same time NASA awarded the contract to Boeing, it gave SpaceX $2.6 billion to develop its Dragon capsule. This spacecraft completed its crewed test flight in 2020 and now regularly carries astronauts to the station.

Starliner has technical problems

Saturday’s cleanup is not the first delay to the Starliner program.

The Starliner failed to reach the ISS during its first mission in 2019. The cause was a misaligned onboard clock that caused a computer to fire the capsule’s engines too early. The spacecraft managed to reach the ISS during its second test flight in 2022, despite the failure of some thrusters to operate as planned.

Boeing postponed the Starliner’s first crewed flight last year after company officials discovered that the duct tape used on hundreds of yards of cables was potentially flammable and the capsule’s three parachutes were connected by lines that appeared to be weaker than expected.

Its launch attempt on May 6 was canceled due to a stuck valve on the Starliner launch vehicle. That valve was replaced, but engineers also discovered a small helium leak in one of the Starliner’s thrusters.

The leak is likely due to a faulty gasket, although engineers aren’t entirely sure. Still, after weeks of extensive analysis, they said the Starliner could fly safely even with the leak.

The future of the Starliner

If the Starliner is eventually able to launch successfully, it will pave the way for more Starliner flights, giving NASA two independent private spacecraft that can carry astronauts to the space station.

During their mission, Wilmore and Williams planned to test key Starliner systems while docked with the space station, including life support and communications. Although the spacecraft can essentially fly itself, the duo had to test the vehicle’s manual controls as it approached the orbital outpost.

The crew had planned to spend about a week on the station with a planned parachute landing as early as June 10 in Wilcox, Arizona — completing a 10-day mission. NASA and Boeing teams had to study the data from that flight before certifying the vehicle for operational missions. NASA hopes to split astronaut flights between Boeing and SpaceX, with trips to the ISS occurring every six months.

NPR’s Joe Hernandez contributed to this report.