Boeing’s Starliner capsule takes off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Wednesday. This is the first time a ship equipped with an Atlas V rocket manufactured by United Launch Alliance has carried people. Two NASA astronauts are on board for a day-long trip to the International Space Station. This test flight was years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Third time’s the charm.
Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying two NASA astronauts and reached orbit about 12 minutes later. The crew will spend the next 25 hours racing to catch up with the International Space Station.
The mission marks the first time the commercially built capsule has carried humans, with it scheduled to dock with the station Thursday around 12:15 p.m. ET, with astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore as commander and Sunita “Suni” Williams serves as mission pilot.
That is third launch by Starliner. On Saturday, the countdown was paused with less than four minutes remaining. The cause was a problem with the computer controlling the launch of the plane. Launch provider ULA replaced the power supply on the system and cleared it in preparation for Wednesday’s launch. It follows a launch attempt last month was cancelled due to a malfunctioning valve on the Sagittarius upper stage of the Atlas V rocket.
While fixing that problem, Boeing discovered another problem: a helium leak. The gas is used in the Starliner’s propulsion system. After reviewing the data, NASA is confident that Boeing can successfully carry out this mission.
With all those problems resolved and the Starliner on its way to the space station, it looks like this third attempt is a real treat. Now launched, Wilmore and Williams are taking the Starliner on its maiden flight, putting the vehicle through its paces ahead of NASA’s operational missions. After the Space Shuttle retired in 2011, NASA partnered with two commercial companies – Boeing and SpaceX – to shuttle astronauts to and from the space station.
But Boeing has fallen behind commercial space transportation partner SpaceX, which has flown nine missions for NASA and four other private flights. An uncrewed Starliner mission in 2019 failed to reach the station, partly due to faulty flight computer code. The 2022 relaunch flight was considered a success by NASA and Boeing, but The problem was later discovered in the capsule’s parachute system.
An analysis also found that tape used to manage hundreds of feet of cabling in the spacecraft is highly flammable. Boeing overcame those problems and received permission from NASA to launch the crew
But the first attempt to launch the crewed mission last month was aborted due to problems with the rocket responsible for giving Starliner its big push into space.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore (L) and Suni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, as they depart operations and inspect the building for the launch pad on Wednesday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This is the third trip to space for both of them.
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Willmore and Williams will test the Starliner’s major systems when it docks with the space station, including life support and communications. While the spacecraft can essentially fly on its own, the duo will test the vehicle’s manual control capabilities as it approaches the orbiting outpost.
The crew will spend about a week on station with a scheduled landing under a parachute canopy in the southwestern United States. Teams at NASA and Boeing will review data from this flight before certifying the vehicle for mission operations. NASA plans to split astronaut flights between Boeing and SpaceX, with trips to the ISS occurring approximately every six months.
