Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing’s (NYSE:) Starliner spacecraft is preparing for its third attempt to send astronauts into space for the first time on Wednesday. SpaceX Mask.
The lollipop-shaped CST-100 Starliner capsule with two astronauts on board is scheduled to lift off at 10:52 a.m. ET (1452 GMT) from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and tethered to Atlas (NYSE: ) The V rocket from the Boeing-Lockheed Martin United Launch Alliance (ULA) joint venture.
Boeing intends for Starliner to compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, which since 2020 has been NASA’s only vehicle to send ISS crew members into orbit from U.S. soil. The capsule and its first crew – NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams – will travel to the International Space Station (ISS).
Last-minute problems delayed Starliner’s first two crewed launch attempts. The May 6 countdown was stopped two hours before liftoff due to three problems that required weeks of additional study. Another attempt last Saturday was aborted less than four minutes before the start due to a glitch in the launch pad computer.
ULA engineers replaced the power supply for this computer and returned Starliner to launch. Local weather is forecast to be 90% favorable for liftoff, according to U.S. Space Force launch weather analysts.
The crew must spend about a week on the space station before returning to Earth. Starliner made its first test flight to and from the ISS two years ago without astronauts on board.
The mission is Boeing’s final test before NASA can certify Starliner for regular astronaut flights, making it the second U.S. flight into orbit.
Boeing has faced years of delays in Starliner development and more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns, as well as a series of crises involving the company’s 737 MAX planes, the centerpiece of its aviation business.
The longtime NASA contractor built modules for the decades-old ISS and rockets designed to carry astronauts to the moon. But Boeing had never built its own operational spacecraft before, a feat complicated by years of software problems, technical glitches and changes in the leadership of the Starliner program.
Meanwhile, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon has become a reliable orbital taxi for NASA. The capsule and Starliner are among the first of a new generation of NASA-funded private spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to low Earth orbit and to the moon as part of the US space agency’s Artemis program.
NASA has long sought two flights of American astronauts to the ISS to have a backup, in addition to the joint astronaut flights the agency is conducting with the Russian Soyuz rocket.
Wilmore, 61, is a retired U.S. Navy captain and fighter pilot. Williams, 58, is a former Navy helicopter test pilot with experience flying more than 30 different aircraft. They spent a total of 500 days in space during two missions to the ISS each.
If the launch is delayed Wednesday, Boeing could try again on Thursday. Any delay after Thursday could last several weeks due to perishable items that will need to be replaced on the Starliner and rocket after a month on the ground. Other missions planned to Cape Canaveral and the ISS could increase delays.