Boeing’s second flight test is a continuation of the failed test in December 2019.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, CHICAGO — Boeing and its launch partners are making final preparations for the next test flight of the spacecraft Starliner CST-100. An unmanned launch mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for May 19 via Orbital Flight Test-2.
Reported from Digital Trends, Wednesday (27/4/2022), this important mission followed a failed test flight in December 2019. At that time, the Boeing Starliner could not reach the desired orbit.
After several improvements were made to the spacecraft software, NASA and Boeing intends to attempt a second test flight in August last year. However, the mission failed on the verge of launch after engineers discovered a valve problem related to the Starliner’s propulsion system.
The Starliner will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. In preparation for launch day, an upper-stage Atlas V rocket was successfully placed aboard the first stage in operations taking place inside the Cape Canaveral Vertical Integration Facility on Tuesday (26/4/2022).
Pre-flight testing will be conducted prior to launch. The Starliner was installed on the top of the rocket in early May.
The highly anticipated test flight will see the Starliner dock with the ISS before returning to Earth in a parachute-assisted landing at White Sands Missile Range in Texas five days after launch. A successful flight will bring the Boeing Starliner spacecraft one step closer to becoming part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It is a public-private effort that aims to improve the accessibility of space by combining the space agency’s vast experience with new technologies developed and built by private companies.
SpaceX, for example, is already part of the program. The company has had success with its reusable Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, which has been transporting cargo to the ISS since 2012 and performing manned flights since 2020.
After years of trouble and two failed missions, NASA and Boeing are acutely aware of how important next month’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission is to success.
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