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Boeing Starliner spacecraft arrives at Florida launch facility ahead of astronaut test flight

Two years after sending a crewless Starliner to the space station, Boeing is set to launch NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on May 6 at 10:34 p.m. ET. A successful Crew Test Flight could mean NASA has a second commercial vehicle to carry astronauts to and from the ISS.

By Emilee Speck Source FOX Weather

Boeing's Starliner capsule lands safely back on Earth

Boeing’s Starliner capsule lands safely back on Earth after visiting the International Space Station

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft made its final journey on Earth on Tuesday as the company prepares to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, hopefully marking the final step to certifying the spacecraft to fly humans. 

Two years after launching a Starliner to the space station without astronauts, Boeing is set to launch NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on May 6 at 10:34 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41. United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket will provide the ride to orbit for Starliner and its crew. 

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Early Tuesday, teams rolled the Crew Flight Test (CFT) Starliner vehicle out of Boeing's hangar at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams from Boeing and NASA were there to see the spacecraft off as it made the journey to Launch Complex 41, where crews lifted the capsule onto the Atlas V rocket. 

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The CFT Starliner being rolled to the Cape Canaveral, Florida launchpad on April 16, 2024. Boeing is preparing to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on the Crew Flight Test (CFT). ( )

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The CFT Starliner being integrated to ULA's Atlas V rocket in Cape Canaveral, Florida on April 16, 2024.  (Boeing)

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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams and Mike Fincke at the Crew Test Flight Starliner rollout on April 16, 2024. (Boeing)

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The Boeing Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Starliner will be secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The spacecraft rolled out from Boeing's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center earlier in the day. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett ( )

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The Boeing Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Starliner will be secured atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett ( )

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From left to right, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore pose in front of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in the early morning of Tuesday, April 16, 2024, outside the company’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett ( )

Williams, Wilmore and backup CFT crew NASA Astronaut Mike Fincke were also at KSC on Tuesday to see their ride to space. In the weeks ahead, NASA said the astronauts will finish their flight preparations in Houston before returning to KSC around April 25. 

If the Crew Test Flight goes according to plan, the astronauts will dock at the ISS and spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before returning to Earth. The Starliner capsule will land in the New Mexican desert using a parachute and airbag system. 

What are the goals of Boeing's Crew Flight Test?

A successful CFT could mean NASA has a second commercial vehicle to carry astronauts to and from the ISS. 

In 2014, NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX to develop spacecraft to end the gap after the space shuttle program ended and resume launching American astronauts from American soil. SpaceX began launching its Crew Dragon with NASA astronauts in 2020 and recently completed its ninth launch with a NASA crew. 

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Boeing's path to human spaceflight has taken years longer than SpaceX, partly because the company was developing an entirely new spacecraft. SpaceX was using its cargo Dragon spacecraft to shuttle supplies to the International Space Station before creating a version of the spacecraft to fly humans.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams and Mike Fincke at the Crew Test Flight Starliner rollout on April 16, 2024.

Still, Boeing's Starliner team has been bogged down by challenges since the first attempted orbital flight test (OFT) in 2019.

Starliner was set to launch Williams and Wilmore last summer, but Boeing managers revealed new issues with the spacecraft after further examining data from Starliner's OFT from May 2022. This was a repeat test flight from a botched attempt in 2019 that ended without docking at the ISS. 

The space agency wrote in a blog post that "after the successful completion of the mission, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and its systems for crewed rotation missions to the space station." 

After 10 years of development and testing, Starliner's final test is to launch two astronauts to the ISS and safely return them home.