Boeing’s new astronaut capsule launched from Florida on Wednesday in its long-delayed first manned test flight, a milestone in Boeing’s ambitions to become a more serious competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Starliner CST-100, with two astronauts in the capsule, took off from the space center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, attached to the Atlas V rocket, for the construction and operability of which Boeing and Lockheed Martin are jointly responsible. through its joint project United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The crewed capsule headed for the International Space Station (ISS), two years after the Starliner completed its first test trip to the orbiting laboratory without astronauts. The docking maneuver will be challenging for the Starliner, as will the return to Earth about a week later.
Boeing’s Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station, in Cape Canavera
With the Starliner, Boeing competes with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which as of 2020 is the only spacecraft to send astronauts into orbit from American soil.
Last-minute problems thwarted the Starliner’s first three launch attempts. Takeoff on May 6 was delayed two hours before launch due to three problems that required three more weeks of work. Another attempt on Saturday was delayed just four minutes before liftoff due to problems with the launch computer.
Part of the seven-member inaugural Starliner crew are two NASA veteran astronauts: Barry “Butch” Wilmore, 61, a retired U.S. Navy captain and fighter pilot, and Sunita “Suni” Williams, 58, a former test pilot. of Navy helicopters with the experience of operating more than 30 different aircraft.
Boeing’s Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station, in Cape Canavera
Each of them spent a total of 500 days in space during two missions on the ISS. Wilmore is the flight commander, and Williams is in the pilot’s seat. They should spend about a week on the ISS before returning to Earth.