Boeing Starliner ready for the first manned flight to the International Space Station

Boeing 's first manned Starliner mission seems to be close to launch. If all goes according to plan, the long-suffering capsule will head to the International Space Station as early as this week.

Here's What We Know

The upcoming mission is called Crew Flight Test (CFT). It will carry two astronauts aboard the ISS, who will remain on the station for a week. The ULA Atlas V rocket will launch on 1 June 2024 from Cape Canaveral Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

CFT is the third Boeing Starliner mission, but also the first time the capsule will have a crew aboard. The first and second flights took place in December 2019 and May 2022, respectively.

The CFT mission was scheduled for 6 May 2024. Two hours before launch, it had to be postponed due to a valve failure in the upper stage of the rocket. A couple of weeks later, the launch was postponed again. This time because of a helium leak in the capsule's service module.

If successful, the spacecraft will be certified for regular missions. Boeing Starliner will send astronauts to the ISS and bring them back to Earth.

Source: space