NASA clears Boeing Starliner for July 30 test flight to ISS

More than 18 months after its first failed attempt to get to the International Space Station, the Boeing Starliner is ready for a second shot. Following a flight readiness review, NASA is moving forward with the craft’s next unmanned orbital flight test on July 30. Barring an unforeseen delay, the capsule will be launched from the Space Force’s Cape Canaveral station mounted on an Atlas V rocket at 2:53 p.m. ET. If NASA postpones the flight, it will attempt to perform the test again on August 3 at the earliest.

The purpose of the flight is for NASA to perform an end-to-end test of Starliner’s capabilities. He wants to know if the capsule can handle all aspects of a trip to the ISS, including launching, docking as well as atmospheric reentry. “[Orbital Flight Test-2] will provide valuable data that will help NASA certify Boeing’s crew transport system to transport astronauts to and from the space station, ”the agency said.

If the flight is successful, NASA will move forward with a crewed test of the Starliner. Steve Stich, head of the commercial crew program at NASA, said it could happen “as early as later this year.” Boeing and NASA have invested heavily in the viability of Starliner. For the aerospace company, its decision not to perform an end-to-end test of the craft before its failed flight in 2019 left the agency “surprised”, which led to questions about the project. Meanwhile, NASA wants to have two capsules that can transport its astronauts to the ISS. For now, it’s limited to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. “It’s very important for the commercial crew program to have two space transportation systems,” Stich told reporters.