Starliner Stacked Ahead Of CFT Next Month

Boeing's CST-100 Starliner has finally been rolled out to the pad and successfully integrated onto the ULA Atlas 5 rocket ahead of its crewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) next month.

In the early morning hours of April 16, the spacecraft emerged from Boeing's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. 

Following a meticulously orchestrated rollout, Starliner was delicately positioned atop the Atlas 5 rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 later that same day.

Scheduled to lift off no earlier than the evening of May 6, the Crew Flight Test (CFT), is set to carry NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station; for their approximately eight-day stay before a planned landing in the southwestern United States.

Originally slated for May 1, the launch date was rescheduled due to ISS activities, including the adjusted timelines for the departure of a cargo Dragon vehicle and the relocation of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to accommodate Starliner's docking requirements.

Occurring almost exactly two years after the successful docking and return of the second uncrewed test flight, designated OFT-2, is a testament to Boeing's commitment to advancing space exploration at their own speed.

"We flew OFT-2, and that was the uncrewed mission for the Starliner vehicle, and it was very successful. Now we introduce humans.” -  Mark Nappi, Boeing Vice President and Program Manager for Starliner

Nappi underscored the importance of assessing how the vehicle performs with human operators, focusing on environmental systems, control interfaces, and the astronauts' ability to assume manual control if necessary during a briefing on March 22

The success of the CFT mission holds the key to completing Starliner's certification for regular crew rotation missions. Which NASA's Commercial Crew Program Manager, Steve Stich,  confirmed that certification must be finalized by November or December to keep Starliner-1 on track for an early 2025 mission.

Looking ahead, the next pivotal milestone for the CFT mission is the flight test readiness review scheduled for April 25. Concurrently, Wilmore and Williams are slated to arrive at Kennedy Space Center on the same day to undergo final preparations for their historic voyage into space.