FLORIDA – Kapsul Starliner Boeing ready to conduct a second test launch on the th unmanned Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) mission International Space Station (ISS). This trial is to measure the suitability of the Starliner to fly astronauts into space.
NASA and Boeing are targeting the launch of the Starliner on May 19, 2022 aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This will be the Starliner’s second test run to dock with the ISS and an important step in NASA’s certification of Boeing’s spacecraft to take astronauts into space.
NASA says the Starliner will spend between 5 and 10 days anchored on the ISS before returning to Earth to land in the western United States. If successful, NASA and Boeing hope to launch the capsule with its first crew before the end of 2022.
The OFT-2 mission is scheduled to dock to the forward-facing port of the ISS Harmony module approximately a day after launch. The mission will deliver more than 180 kilograms of food and other supplies for the station’s current crew.
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Starliner’s first OFT mission, in December 2019, fell short of expectations, failing to reach the required orbit to reach the International Space Station due to a software glitch. Boeing prepared the Starliner for a do-over in early August 2021, but a pre-flight inspection hours before takeoff revealed a problem in the oxidizer valve of the Starliner’s propulsion system, and the launch failed.
NASA is counting on the success of OFT-2 to begin sending astronauts to the space station in greater numbers. NASA’s nearly decade-long reliance on Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft has eased with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon launching its fourth operational crewed mission to the ISS last month.
In 2014, NASA, known for its abundance of warning redundancy, signed contracts with SpaceX and Boeing to design and develop vehicles to launch astronauts to the space station. Starliner certification will fully realize NASA’s goals for its Commercial Crew Program.
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