Boeing’s spaceflight program may reach a critical milestone with the launch of its Starliner spaceship on Monday night, which will carry two NASA astronauts into orbit.
All about Boeing Starliner
The Crew Flight Test mission is slated to launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday at 10:34 p.m. ET. The space agency says that live streaming of the ceremony will begin on NASA channels on Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET.
The event has been planned for a decade and symbolizes the culmination of Boeing’s efforts to develop a spaceship capable of transporting humans to and from the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two senior NASA astronauts, will embark on a week-long mission to the International Space Station
Starliner’s journey to the launchpad has been hindered by costly failures, test flight difficulties, and development delays. Meanwhile, SpaceX, Boeing’s competitor in NASA’s commercial crew program, has emerged as the preferred astronaut transportation provider.
Finally, NASA and Boeing have agreed that the Starliner spaceship is ready for its most significant test yet: allowing astronauts to fly around the Earth.
Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, two senior NASA astronauts, will embark on a week-long mission to the International Space Station on Monday.
Wilmore and Williams will conduct several experiments throughout their mission, including a brief takeover of the autonomous spacecraft’s controls and an assessment of the ship’s functionality for astronauts.
“We’ve had a couple (of) launch dates, and we’ve been like, ‘OK, we’re ready to go,’” Williams said at a news conference. “But now it’s like, heck — five days. It is actually, finally real, and I sort of have to pinch myself a little bit to understand that we’re going.”
