Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft blasted off Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Powered by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, it was the first time the craft had carried humans, carrying two NASA astronauts on the day-long journey to the International Space Station. The test flight has been years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Third time’s a charm.
Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner space capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral with two NASA astronauts on board and reached orbit about 12 minutes later. The crew will spend the next 25 hours struggling to catch up with the International Space Station.
The mission, the first to feature a commercially manufactured capsule carrying humans, will be commanded by astronauts Barry “Batch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams as mission pilot and is scheduled to dock with the station at approximately 12:15 p.m. Thursday.
This was Starliner’s third launch attempt. The countdown was halted on Saturday with less than four minutes remaining due to a malfunction in the flight computer that controls the launch. Launch provider ULA replaced the power supply to the system and prepared for Wednesday’s launch. This follows a launch attempt last month that was halted due to a valve malfunction in the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket.
While fixing that issue, Boeing discovered another problem: a helium leak. This gas is used in Starliner’s propulsion system. After reviewing the data, NASA was confident that Boeing could complete the mission successfully.
With all these issues resolved and Starliner on its way to the space station, this third attempt certainly seems to show signs of success. The Starliner was launched and put on its maiden flight by Wilmore and Williams, and is undergoing performance testing prior to operational NASA missions. After the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA partnered with two private companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to transport astronauts to and from the space station.
But Boeing lags behind SpaceX in commercial space transportation, which has already completed nine NASA missions and four more private flights. An uncrewed Starliner mission in 2019 failed to reach the station, in part due to a glitch in the flight computer code. A 2022 retrieval was deemed successful by NASA and Boeing, but problems were later found with the capsule’s parachute system.
Analysis revealed that the tape used to manage hundreds of feet of cables inside the spacecraft was flammable. Boeing fixed these issues and received clearance from NASA to launch the crew.
But the first launch attempt of this crewed mission last month was scuttled due to issues with the rocket responsible for propelling Starliner into space.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (left) and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, depart the Operations and Checkout Building for the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday for their third spaceflight.
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Wilmore and Williams plan to test Starliner’s key systems, including life support and communications, when it docks with the space station. While the spacecraft is primarily capable of flying autonomously, the pair will test manual controls as the craft approaches the orbital base.
The crew will spend about a week on the ISS before landing under parachute in the southwestern U.S. NASA and Boeing teams will review data from the flight and certify the spacecraft’s suitability for operational missions. NASA plans to split astronaut flights between Boeing and SpaceX, with flights to the ISS scheduled to occur approximately every six months.
