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After a multi year delay in its Starliner program, Boeing appears to be ready to send the first crew as part of its CFT crew flight test mission with NASA to the International Space Station (ISS). Boeing's spaceflight program is managed by Boeing's Defense division, and its main crewed spaceflight product is the Starliner spacecraft built to work together with SpaceX's Crew Dragon for human spaceflight missions to the ISS. Boeing's CFT test is slated to take place in May, with a media conference due later this week.
Boeing Starts Two Week Long Fueling Process For Its Starliner Spaceship
SpaceX's first crewed mission for the Dragon program was the DM-2 flight that took astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the ISS in 2020. It marked the first crewed spaceflight to the ISS by a private firm and paved the way for the SpaceX Crew-1 mission a little over a year later in July 2021.
Since then, NASA has been able to launch seven crewed ISS missions, with the latest taking off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida earlier this month. Meanwhile, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is also at the KSC for pre flight preparations. Launching a spacecraft, especially one that will fly astronauts, is a long drawn process that requires carefully evaluating dozens of its performance aspects.
During CFT, NASA and Boeing will test the ship's ability to travel to the ISS, orient with the station and dock with it. Marking the end of the first phase of the mission, the second phase will be equally important since it will see the crew travel inside Starliner as they return to Earth at high speeds.
Like SpaceX's Dragon, Starliner also uses parachutes to cut its speed in the final moments before touchdown. NASA and Boeing tested the chutes in January at an army proving ground by using a sled tied to the parachutes.
According to Boeing, Starliner's fueling process will take a little over two weeks, with a team made of technicians and engineers responsible for this important preparation. Fueling Starliner is a crucial point in the launch timeline of the spacecraft, and before teams can feel comfortable loading the propellants in the ship, they have to ensure the ship is in perfect condition as several issues cannot be solved during or after fuel loading.
Starliner is currently slated to launch in May on the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V is a retired launch vehicle with a limited number of missions remaining in its portfolio. It will be replaced by ULA's Vulcan, which debuted earlier this year to send a lander to the Moon.
Starliner has launched twice so far, with the latest launch taking place in May 2022. This launch, dubbed OFT-2, was originally set to take place in 2021, but faulty valves led NASA and Boeing to cancel it. OFT-2 saw the ship dock successfully with the ISS, but during orbital insertion, some thrusters failed to perform.
Starliner, along with Crew Dragon, is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Through CCP, NASA offloads the risk of operating rockets for crewed missions, but this is set to change with the Artemis program. Artemis uses Boeing's SLS rocket equipped with Northrop Grumman's solid stage boosters, and it will be NASA's first human rated rocket since the Space Shuttle.
About the author: Ramish is a seasoned technology writer and editor with more than a decade of experience. He specializes in semiconductor fabrication and market analysis. With a background in finance and supply chain management - via his bachelors in Finance and a micromasters in supply chain management from MIT - Ramish combines financial rigor with deep industry insight to deliver accurate and authoritative coverage.
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