Starliner Orbit Flight Test 2 Now Targeted for NET March 25
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (Boeing PR) — NASA and Boeing are targeting no earlier than Thursday, March 25, for the launch of Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is a critical developmental milestone on the company’s path to fly crew missions for NASA. Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is designed, built, tested and flown by a team committed to safely, reliably and sustainably transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
The target launch date is enabled by an opening on the Eastern Range; the availability of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket; steady progress on hardware and software; and an International Space Station docking opportunity.
The company recently mated the spacecraft’s reusable crew module atop its brand-new service module inside the Starliner production factory at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams are working to complete outfitting of the vehicle’s interior before loading cargo and conducting final spacecraft checkouts.
Boeing also recently completed the formal requalification of Starliner’s OFT-2 flight software. Teams conducted a full software review and several series of tests to verify Starliner’s software meets design specifications. Boeing also will complete an end-to-end simulation of the OFT-2 test flight using flight hardware and final versions of Starliner’s flight software to model the vehicle’s expected behavior before flight.
The OFT-2 mission will launch Starliner on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, dock to the space station and return to land in the western United States about a week later as part of an end-to-end test flight to prove the system is ready to fly crew.
Learn more about Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner by visiting www.boeing.com/starliner.
8 responses to “Starliner Orbit Flight Test 2 Now Targeted for NET March 25”
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inshallah
Allah’s recent track record isn’t much better than Boeing’s so I’m not sure that will help.
Okay, so really April if no substantial issues arise between now and then.
That’s not so bad – Starliner could still get its crewed demo flight in this year, at which point we’d effectively have US-based backup to Dragon (even if Starliner’s official certification probably wouldn’t be completed until just before the second crewed flight, an event which almost surely won’t happen prior to 2022).
Good luck to the Starliner team and NASA! Let’s get this program fully operational and move our focus on to bigger things
I think the first crewed test flight is scheduled for December 2021.
SLS delenda est
There are things about Starliner I really like, such as its airbag system for recovery on land or sea. I like the capsule’s more reasonable scale, in contrast to the behemoth Orion capsule.
So I wish them good luck!
That said, I have questions about Starliner…
Some basic specifications would be nice to know, like the dry mass and the propellant capacity. Surely that wouldn’t reveal anything proprietary?
Will Starliner never transition to Vulcan-Centaur launch? Will ULA keep making Atlas V, just for the sake of Starliner? How long could that go on? Or is the Starliner project planned to have a short lifespan?
Will Starliner refit for the Falcon 9 launcher?
SLS delenda est
both Starliner and Crew Dragon are what will eventually start people’s journey to the Moon…
“What will…start”? I won’t go that far. More like what should start return to the Moon.
SLS delenda est
Perhaps in the very early going, but not long-term. About all one can truthfully say at this point is that the odds of early Moon visitors starting their trips in Crew Dragon 2 or Starliner now look to be no worse than the odds they will do so in Orion. Of course if NASA dithers and delays Artemis, SH-Starship will ace them all out of any role in human transport to and from Luna and environs.