Boeing and NASA are completing final preparations for the first manned mission aboard the Starliner spacecraftwhich is destined for the International Space Station (ISS) and is scheduled to launch tonight from Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA).
The launch is scheduled from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:34 p.m. local time (02:34 GMT Tuesday), and according to the US space agency, there are 95% favorable weather conditions.
The capsule is already installed on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket and is ready for its crew, composed of experienced NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita Williams, to embark less than three hours before the takeoff.
If the launch is successful, the Starliner will dock autonomously with the Harmony module of the ISS at 00:46 hours (04:46 GMT) on Wednesday.
Both Boeing and NASA have stressed that this mission, called CFT (Crew Flight Test), is a test, so challenges are expected to arise during the trip, during which at times Wilmore and Williams will operate the ship manually.
One of the objectives of the mission is to evaluate the performance of the ship, which is 5 meters high and 4.6 meters in diameter, in space conditions.
The success of the mission will allow NASA to have a second supplier, in addition to SpaceX, for the transportation of manned and cargo missions to the ISS, according to contracts signed in 2014.
“We have worked hard to ensure that the Commercial Crew Program has two independent space transportation systems. That has been our goal from the beginning and we are very close to achieving it,” NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said last Friday.
To date of this mission, Boeing has received around $4.2 billion under the contract with the US space agency over the past 10 years, while SpaceX has received $2.6 billion and has made more than ten flights to the ISS. with his Dragon capsule.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk himself pointed out these differences in a message on his X account on Monday, adding: “Too many non-technical managers at Boeing.”
After two failed attempts, Boeing successfully launched an unmanned mission on May 19, 2022, which docked at the ISS the next day and remained there for four days before separating and landing in New Mexico (USA).
In 2023, problems with the parachute system and some fiberglass insulating tapes forced the postponement of a manned mission that was scheduled for July 21 of that year, with a month and a half to go before takeoff.
After a stay of approximately one week on the ISS, the Starliner spacecraft will return to the southwestern United States, where it will land with an improved parachute system.
