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Boeing plans to launch its first Starliner flight with astronauts on Wednesday, in the latest attempt to fly the long-delayed spacecraft.
The launch is scheduled for 10:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Two NASA astronauts will be aboard the Starliner capsule, which will be carried to the International Space Station by United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket.
Wednesday marks the latest in a series of attempts to launch the mission, known as the Boeing crew flight test. On Saturday, a launch attempt was canceled in the final minutes of the countdown due to a problem with one of the computers that provides ground support to the rocket. A new attempt was canceled in early May due to a problem with the rocket itself.
If the launch is delayed again, Boeing has planned a backup option on Thursday.
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United Launch Alliance – or ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin – replaced the rocket's problematic valve after the May attempt and replaced a defective component in the ground infrastructure computer after Saturday's attempt.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is at Space Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 3, 2024.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo | AFP | Getty Images
The astronauts
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams.
Credit: Kim Shiflett | NASA
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams fly Starliner, with the former serving as the spacecraft's commander and the latter as its pilot.
Wilmore joined NASA in 2000 and previously flew to space on the Space Shuttle and the Russian Soyuz. Before NASA, Wilmore was a pilot in the U.S. Navy.
Williams was selected by NASA in 1998 and has also flown to space twice before, on the Space Shuttle and then on the Soyuz. Williams was also a Navy pilot, like Wilmore, before joining the space agency.
The rocket and capsule
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is seen on the launch pad of Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Thursday, May 30, 2024.
Isaac Watson | NASA
Starliner will launch on ULA's Atlas V. The rocket debuted in 2002 and the crewed Starliner flight test represents the 100th launch.
The capsule itself is built to carry as many as four NASA astronauts per flight and more than 200 pounds of research and cargo. The spacecraft lands using a parachute and airbag system. Starliner is reusable, with each capsule designed to fly as many as 10 missions.
The mission
Boeing's crew flight test aims to certify that the Starliner system can transport NASA astronauts to and from the ISS.
When Starliner launches Wednesday, it will fly about 25 hours in space before scheduled to dock with the International Space Station at 12:15 p.m. Thursday. The astronauts will then spend about a week on the ISS, focusing on Starliner testing, before returning to Earth.
