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NASA clears Boeing Starliner for launch on second unpiloted test flight – Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

NASA clears Boeing Starliner for launch on second unpiloted test flight – Spaceflight Now - Spaceflight Now

Jul 23, 2021 1 min, 13 secs

NASA and Boeing held a day-long flight readiness review Thursday and cleared the company’s CST-100 Starliner astronaut ferry ship for launch July 30 on a second unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.

“We’ll test the NASA docking system, we’ll test the rendezvous sensor system,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager.

Boeing and SpaceX are both under contract to NASA to provide commercial crew capsules to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, ending the agency’s sole reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for transportation to low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX successfully carried out two test flights of its Crew Dragon capsule, one unpiloted and one with a two NASA astronauts on board, and has now launched two four-person crews to the space station for long duration stays.

Boeing carried out an unpiloted test flight of its Starliner capsule in December 2019, but major software problems and a communications glitch prevented a rendezvous with the station and nearly led to the loss of the spacecraft.

After a lengthy joint review with NASA, a variety of corrective actions were ordered and Boeing eventually opted to launch a second unpiloted test flight to demonstrate the capsule’s readiness to carry astronauts?

Assuming the flight test goes well, the first crew is expected to fly aboard a Starliner before the end of the year.

NASA clears Boeing Starliner for launch on second unpiloted test flight

SpaceX crew capsule relocated outside space station before Boeing mission

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