NASA has given nod to Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for launch on July 30. It will be an uncrewed test flight that is set for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The critical Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission will be Starliner’s second launch after it failed to reach the ISS in December 2019.
NASA announced its decision on July 23 after a meeting at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The decision clears the way for the launch on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket next week. The spacecraft will take off from Cape Carnival in Florida.
Short trip to ISS
“After reviewing the team’s data and the readiness of all the parties, everybody said ‘go’ for the launch,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s director of spaceflight. “To me, this review was a reflection of the diligence and the passion of this Boeing and NASA team that really chose to learn and adapt and come back stronger for this uncrewed demonstration mission.”
If the test flight goes according to the plan, the spacecraft will dock with the ISS the next day. Since it’s a test mission, the Starliner’s stay aboard the ISS will be short – only 5 days, before returning to Earth. The spacecraft’s first flight in 2019 ended in failure when it missed its targeted orbit, preventing it from taking a planned route to the space laboratory.
NASA helping Boeing to overcome issues
However, the spacecraft did not crash and the team managed to land it safely two days later in New Mexico. An investigation confirmed a slew of issues with the spacecraft’s systems, with Boeing and NASA working closely for the last 18 months to get past these hurdles.
NASA said the mission will test “the end-to-end capabilities of Starliner from launch to docking, atmospheric re-entry, and a desert landing.” The flight will also provide “valuable data that will help NASA certify Boeing’s crew transportation system to carry astronauts to and from the space station.”
The effort is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative that brings the space agency and private companies together to boost space travel and supply missions.
