Boeing's new Starliner capsule has ended up in the wrong orbit after lifting off on its first test flight, in a blow to the company's effort to launch astronauts for NASA next year.

Key points: The problem was with the Starliner's mission clock being off-kilter, which delayed timed-commands to put the capsule in the right orbit

The problem was with the Starliner's mission clock being off-kilter, which delayed timed-commands to put the capsule in the right orbit Engineers worried the problem could resurface during descent and NASA quickly cancelled the capsuled planned docking on the International Space Station

Engineers worried the problem could resurface during descent and NASA quickly cancelled the capsuled planned docking on the International Space Station It was a major setback for Boeing, which had been hoping to catch up with SpaceX, NASA's other commercial crew provider

As the company scrambled to understand what happened, NASA cancelled the Starliner's docking with the International Space Station, instead focusing on a hastier than planned return to Earth.

The Starliner will parachute into its landing site in the New Mexico desert on Sunday (local time).

Officials stressed the capsule was stable and safe, and that had astronauts been aboard, they would have been in no danger.

A crew may have been able to take over control and salvage the mission.

The problem was with the Starliner's mission clock: It was off-kilter, which delayed timed-commands to put the capsule in the right orbit.

Engineers worried the problem could resurface during descent.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 30 seconds 1 m 30 s The Starliner capsule missed docking at the ISS after a timing anomaly.

It was a major setback for Boeing, which had been hoping to catch up with SpaceX, NASA's other commercial crew provider that successfully completed a similar demonstration last March.

SpaceX has one last hurdle — a launch abort test — before carrying two NASA astronauts in its Dragon capsule.

NASA officials did not think Boeing's problem would hold up SpaceX, but said they would need to make sure nothing was in common between the two companies' on-board mission timers.

Ground controllers were puzzled over why the Starliner's timer was not working properly when the capsule separated from the rocket and began flying freely.

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said it was too soon to know whether Boeing would need to conduct another orbital test flight without a crew, before flying astronauts.

The company had been shooting for its first crew launch by the middle of next year.

It is unclear whether Boeing would need to conduct another orbital test flight without a crew. ( NASA via AP: Joel Kowsky )

An additional test flight would almost certainly push the first astronaut flight back.

Boeing's Jim Chilton, a senior vice-president, stopped by the Starliner's manufacturing plant at Kennedy Space Centre to address employees on his way to a sombre news conference.

"These are passionate people who are committing a big chunk of their lives to put Americans back in space from our soil, so it's disappointing for us," Mr Chilton said.

It's been nearly nine years since NASA astronauts have launched from the US. The last time was July 8, 2011, when Atlantis — now on display at Kennedy Space Center — made the final space shuttle flight.

Since then, NASA astronauts have travelled to and from the space station via Kazakhstan, courtesy of the Russian Space Agency.

The Soyuz rides have cost NASA up to $US86 million ($124 million) apiece.

The space agency handed over station deliveries to private businesses, first cargo and then crews, in order to focus on getting astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars.

Commercial cargo ships took flight in 2012. Crew capsules were more complicated to design and build, and parachute and other technical problems caused repeated delays.

Target launch dates starting with 2017 came and went. Last April, a SpaceX crew capsule — the same one that flew to the space station a month earlier — exploded during a ground test.

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann, Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson and NASA astronaut Mike Fincke will be the first crew to fly on the Starliner spacecraft. ( AP: Terry Renna )

The US needs companies competing like this to drive down launch costs, boost innovation and open space up to more people, Mr Bridenstine said.

He stressed the need for more than one company in case of problems that kept one grounded.

Friday's blast-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station started flawlessly as the Atlas V rocket lifted off with the Starliner just before sunrise. But half an hour into the flight, the trouble became apparent.

Ground controllers tried to send up commands to get the spacecraft in its proper orbit, but the signals did not get there and by then it was too late.

The capsule tried to fix its position, burning too much fuel for the spacecraft to safely make it to the space station on Saturday for a weeklong stay.

All three astronauts assigned to the first Starliner crew were at control centres for the launch: Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann, both with NASA, and Boeing's Chris Ferguson, who commanded the last shuttle mission.

He's now a test pilot astronaut for Boeing and one of the Starliner's key developers.

"This is why we flight test, right? We're trying to get all of the bugs, if you will, out of the system," Mr Fincke said at the briefing.

"There's always something."

AP