NASA Sends Boeing’s Uncrewed CST-100 Aboard ULA Atlas V Rocket

Yesterday evening around 6:54PM EDT, NASA’s Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) launched Boeing’s uncrewed CST-100 into space aboard the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, and is expected to dock at the ISS later this evening (20 May 2022) sometime after 7pm.

The launch site was the Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The goals of this mission is to “test the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable system as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

On this mission, the Starliner is carrying a payload of 800 pounds of which 500 consists of NASA cargo and crew supplies, with the reminder Boeing stuff bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The team hopes to gather data to use for NASA’s certification of Boeing’s crew transportation system for flights with personnel to and from the ISS.

Mark Knappi, VP and Program Manager of the Boeing Commercial Crew Program stated that “we’ve learned a lot about the capability of our spacecraft and the resilience of our team since the first Starliner launch”.  The NASA teams at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Johnson Space Center in Houston will monitor space operations for the duration of the mission.

NASA Administrator Mr. Bill Nelson stated “I am so proud of NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance teams who have worked so hard to see Starliner on its way to the International Space Station”, and went on to say that “through adversity, our teams have continued to innovate for the benefit of our nation and all of humanity. I look forward to a successful end-to-end test of the Starliner spacecraft, which will help enable missions with astronauts aboard”

FMI: https://nasa.gov/commercialcrew