Back in 2019, Boeing’s first orbital test flight of its Starliner spacecraft did not go as planned. Now, the aviation company is keen on making a strong comeback and has already slated the date for its second test flight.
The company has worked extensively on the Starliner spacecraft to fix all the flaws that became the reason for failure during the first test flight. Boeing and NASA are looking at July 30 for the next test flight.
Aim to reach the ISS
The unscrewed mission will see the spacecraft launching from Cape Canaveral in Florida to dock with the International Space Station (ISS). After its brief stay, the Starliner will return to Earth and make a ground landing.
“Boeing and NASA are targeting 2:53 p.m. ET on Friday, July 30, for the launch of Starliner’s uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2, or OFT-2, mission to the ISS, pending range approval,” Boeing said in a release.
The company also said that the updated launch target aligns with both the ISS schedule and the availability of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. If the test flight goes as per the plan, the third orbital flight will ferry 3 astronauts to and from the ISS by the end of 2021. Future Starliner flights could also see as many as 7 astronauts being carried at a time into orbit.
Fixing old mistakes
Boeing confirmed that it recently completed end-to-end testing of Starliner’s flight software, an exercise that goes on for 5 days and involves operations teams and hardware. After the first Starliner failed to reach the ISS, a thorough investigation showed various issues with the capsule. All those issues are claimed to have been fixed before the second attempt.
Boeing is a part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, a public-private partnership that brings together NASA’s space experience and technological advancements from private companies. The program aims to scale up space travel availability.
Besides, NASA has also partnered with aerospace startup Axiom Space for a private space mission. It will ferry four people who aren’t professional astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) by January 2022.
