Boeing CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft Rides to Atlas V Rocket | NASA Kennedy

Boeing CST-100 Starliner Spacecraft Rides to Atlas V Rocket | NASA Kennedy

NASA will soon have two spacecraft and rocket options to launch crews to the International Space Station.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft passes by the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 4, 2022, making its way to the Space Launch Complex-41 Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. At the pad, Starliner will be secured atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket in preparation for Boeing’s second Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2) to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. 

Set to launch May 19, Starliner will spend five to 10 days docked to the International Space Station before returning to land. The test is the last flight before the Starliner system launches American astronauts on the Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the microgravity laboratory—the spacecraft’s first flight test with crew on board. Potential launch windows for CFT are under review and will be determined after a safe and successful OFT-2.

Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft have been developed and tested to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station from U.S. soil.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Learn more about Boeing's Starliner:

https://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/

Image Credit: NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC)/Glenn Benson

Image Date: May 4, 2022

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