Boeing expected to launch its first crewed Starliner capsule to the International Space Station

In this photo provided by NASA, the Boeing Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station - Copyright Kim Shiflett/For copyright and restrictions, refer to http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines/index.html

By Roselyne Min with AP

Published on 06/05/2024 - 16:37

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Boeing’s new Starliner capsule will launch NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station on May 6 local time.

After years of delay, Boeing is expected to launch its first crewed spacecraft to the International Space Station.

The American aerospace giant launched two Starliner capsules previously without a crew aboard.

The first test flight didn't make it to the space station because of software and other problems in 2019. Boeing repeated the demo in 2022.

Starliner’s launch was delayed once again in 2023, as the capsule was plagued by parachute issues and flammable tape that had to be removed.

The new Starliner capsule is scheduled to blast off atop an Atlas rocket on May 6 at 10:34 pm ET or Tuesday at 4:34 am CEST.

"This is the first launch of astronauts for Boeing as part of NASA's commercial crew programme. And I know that they are very excited – you can see it in their face – to fly to the International Space Station on this historic mission," Jennifer Kunz, associate director of the Kennedy Space Center at NASA, said at a press conference.

It will send off two test pilots, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to the International Space Station (ISS) in a week-long flight.

Wilmore and Williams will be the first astronauts to ride an Atlas rocket since NASA's Project Mercury in the early 1960s.

The two NASA astronauts assigned to Boeing’s first human spaceflight recently arrived at their launch site, just over a week before their scheduled lift-off.

'Great stepping stone'

Wilmore stressed this was a test flight meant to uncover anything amiss.

“Do we expect it to go perfectly? This is the first human flight of the spacecraft," he said at a press conference.

“I'm sure we'll find things out. That's why we do this,” Wilmore added.

Williams says Boeing’s Starliner is similar to Orion, a crewed spacecraft used in NASA's Moon exploration programme, Artemis.

“I honestly think it's a great stepping stone as we're getting ready to leave low Earth orbit and go back to the Moon,” said Williams.

“I think if I was a young astronaut, and I was thinking about going to the Moon, I think I'd put my hand up and say, I want to fly Starliner," she added.

NASA hired SpaceX and Boeing a decade ago, paying billions of dollars for the companies to ferry astronauts to and from the space station.

SpaceX has launched a total of nine crewed spacecraft for NASA since 2020. The latest liftoff was in March 2024 with Crew-8 aboard. Nasa has said that Space X Crew-8 will oversee the arrival of the new rocketship at the ISS.

Although the International Space Station is set to wind down by 2030, NASA is still keen on having capsules from two competing companies for its astronauts.

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