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As Boeing, NASA, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) prepare for a third launch attempt of the Boeing Starliner set for June 5th, a lesser-known yet interesting fact has emerged. While the Starliner will be going to the ISS, it won’t be ULA’s Atlas/Centaur booster that takes it all the way there or even to low-earth orbit (LEO).
NASA Prepares for Third Attempt to Launch Boeing Crewed Flight Test
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission teams are gearing up for another Starliner launch attempt, currently scheduled for 10:52 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 5. With a faulty ground equipment power supply repaired, the launch will take place from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission, lasting approximately one week, will see NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft heading to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Boeing Starliner just can’t seem to get off of the pad. The much-publicized second launch attempt of CFT-100 was scrubbed on June 1st when a computer detected an anomaly with less than four minutes left in the countdown. The mission represents Starliner’s first crewed flight test.
After three weeks of analysis and discussion between Boeing, NASA, and United Launch Alliance following the May 6, 2024 scrub, Boeing’s long road to lofting crew aboard Starliner to low-Earth orbit took a step towards launching this morning when it was moved to its launch pad. Liftoff of Atlas V and Starliner is scheduled for 12:25 PM EDT, Saturday, June 1st, from Space Launch Complex 41.
In a media release this evening, NASA announced June 1st at 12:25 PM as the next targeted date for a Starliner launch attempt.
Mission managers from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) continue to evaluate a path forward toward launching the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. The teams are now working toward a launch opportunity at 12:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1, with additional opportunities on Sunday, June 2, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6.
Less than a month ago, Starliner seemed like it was ready to go. With a launch date for the first crewed flight test set for May 6th, NASA officials expressed confidence that Starliner was “go for launch”. Following a Flight Readiness Review held just days before the May 6th launch date, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free said he was satisfied that the Readiness Review was thorough, and that Starliner, Atlas V and ISS were prepared properly for the test flight.
The target launch date for Boeing’s oft-delayed CFT-100 Starliner capsule has been shifted again. The Crewed Flight Test of the vehicle is now targeted for May 21 at 4:14 PM EDT.
This Story Was Updated at 4:38 PM On 5/9/24 to include a response from NASA.
“As a valued NASA partner and as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad”.
Valvetech President Erin Faville – Wednesday March 8th.
UPDATE: Several sources are now reporting that Starliner will have to be rolled back from the pad with a new launch date NET May 17th.
Cape Canaveral It was all going well until it wasn’t. That’s often the story with launch attempts: tens of thousands of things must work perfectly, perform as planned, and operate normally, and only one thing has to go wrong for the attempt to be called off.
NASA’s Commercial Crew program will take a big step forward on Monday, May 6th with the launch of the Boeing Starliner Calypso’s Crewed Flight Test (CFT-100). Scheduled for a 10:34 PM EDT liftoff, Starliner Calypso will carry its first-ever crew to the ISS on an important test flight. (The spacecraft was named in honor of the research vessel Calypso, used by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau from 1950-1996.)
NASA’s Commercial Crew directorate has announced the results of the Readiness Review for the planned launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner flight test: they are “go” for launch at 10:34 PM EDT on May 6.
Kennedy Space Center, FL – Greeted by members of the press, Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the KSC Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) formerly known as the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) aboard a NASA T-38 jet Thursday afternoon. The two NASA astronauts will be aboard the first crewed launch of the new Boeing Starliner crew module early next month.
Launching atop a ULA Atlas V booster no earlier than May 6th at 10:34 PM EDT, the pair will head to the ISS for a 10-day stay on what will effectively be a “shakedown cruise” for the Starliner. Otherwise known as a flight certification test, a successful flight will see the Starliner routinely used to send astronauts to low Earth orbit.
