This is seen as a significant milestone in the ambitions of this American aerospace giant to compete with other space companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The Atlas V rocket launched the Starliner-1 (CFT) spacecraft from Boeing to the International Space Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, on June 5, 2024. (Photo: Reuters).
The CST-100 Starliner, carrying two astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, attached to an Atlas V rocket developed in collaboration by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and the United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The spacecraft and its crew are heading towards their ultimate destination, the International Space Station (ISS). This journey has faced multiple delays due to technical issues, setbacks, and even failures.
After separating from the rocket, the spacecraft activated its thrusters to autonomously enter orbit, commencing its journey towards the ISS at an altitude of approximately 400 km above Earth.
The Starliner spacecraft was successfully launched into Earth orbit. (Photo: Reuters).
Boeing has developed the Starliner, supported by NASA, to compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The Crew Dragon has become NASA’s reliable taxi to orbit, successfully completing nine crewed missions to the ISS and five other private service missions.
To demonstrate its capabilities, the Starliner must successfully complete this mission. It needs to dock accurately with the ISS on Thursday and remain there for eight days before safely returning the two astronauts to Earth.
Like the Crew Dragon, the Starliner is reusable and designed to transport astronauts to low Earth orbit and then to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
NASA is also collaborating with other private space companies, such as Blue Origin, founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, to build their own space stations, which NASA is funding to replace the ISS by 2030.
The two astronauts, Wilmore and Williams, on this flight will join the current seven crew members living on the ISS before piloting the Starliner back to Earth for a landing in the Southwestern United States desert.
