Space mission: NASA and Boeing hope for first manned Starliner flight in July

Will the Starliner finally take off? After numerous delays, the launch of the first manned flight of the Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station (ISS) is due in July, the US aerospace giant and NASA announced Wednesday.

The CST-100 Starliner mission is still not due before July 21st. “We discussed and decided that the best launch attempt would not be until July 21st,” Steve Stitch, head of NASA’s commercial manned program, told reporters.

The US space agency wants to build a second vehicle for its astronauts on the ISS, and the SpaceX capsule is already in operation. But Boeing has suffered a series of setbacks that have significantly delayed its program, including a failed test flight in 2019. The company finally managed in May 2022 to reach the ISS for the first time – without a crew on board.

Ground testing in May

Boeing then hoped to make its first manned flight in 2022 before it was pushed back to February 2023 for the first time and then to April. “We’re pretty confident about that date,” July 21st, said Mark Nappi, Starliner program manager at Boeing.

More time is needed to certify a parachute system designed to safely return astronauts and the capsule to Earth, Steve Stitch said. Ground tests of parachutes will be held in May. The launch will take place using an Atlas V rocket (manufactured by the United Launch Alliance consortium) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The Starliner capsule will carry two NASA astronauts, Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, to the ISS for at least eight days.

If the mission is successful, the Boeing capsule could finally be certified and begin its operational flights on an undetermined date. In 2014, NASA signed fixed price contracts with both SpaceX ($2.6 billion) and Boeing ($4.2 billion).

Using two companies, he wants to diversify his options so that he never again runs the risk of being left without American vehicles, as he was after the shutdown of the space shuttles in 2011. Before SpaceX, NASA did have to pay for seats on the Russian Soyuz rockets.

Elon Musk’s company, new to the aerospace industry compared to Boeing, has already flown 18 astronauts to the ISS in its own Dragon capsule, as well as four private passengers on a space tourism mission.