New Mexico
Boeing Starliner Capsule Lands In New Mexico After Its First Successful Test Launch In Years
Topline
An uncrewed Boeing Starliner capsule touched down within the New Mexico desert Wednesday after a visit to the Worldwide House Station, wrapping up its first absolutely profitable check launch, a milestone that may put together the Starliner to ultimately carry NASA astronauts—and reverse this system’s fortunes after years of delays and technical challenges.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft launches from Florida on … [+]
NASA through Getty Photos
Key Info
Aided by a number of parachutes and airbags, the Starliner landed at an Military missile vary in New Mexico at 6:49 p.m. Eastern, roughly 4 hours after it undocked from the Worldwide House Station and positioned itself for reentry.
The mission started Thursday night, when the Starliner took off from Florida, indifferent from its rocket, efficiently entered orbit and docked on the ISS a day later—in distinction with an unsuccessful late 2019 check launch throughout which the Starliner’s thrusters did not put the capsule onto the appropriate orbit as a result of a malfunctioning clock.
The Starliner is returning to Earth with about 600 kilos of cargo loaded onto the capsule by ISS astronauts following its multi-day keep on the area station.
What To Watch For
The Starliner’s first crewed check flight might come later this yr, Boeing and NASA officers mentioned final week, after which it might begin flying normal crewed missions.
Key Background
Nearly eight years in the past, NASA struck multibillion-dollar contracts with Boeing and SpaceX to fly astronauts to the Worldwide House Station on non-public U.S.-made spacecraft, because the company sought to cease paying Russia to hold its astronauts to area—an costly follow that started after NASA retired its area shuttles in 2011. Regardless of going through some testing points, the SpaceX Crew Dragon flew its first crewed mission to the ISS in Might 2020, and has traveled to the area station with crew a number of instances since then. Nonetheless, Boeing’s competing Starliner program has confronted technical hurdles: The capsule didn’t make it to the ISS throughout its 2019 check launch after its failure to enter the right orbit, and a second check scheduled for final August was referred to as off as a result of a valve challenge. The issues have led to years of delays, further prices and extra stress for Boeing, a legendary firm whose repute was undermined by a pair of deadly 737 MAX business airplane crashes in 2018 and 2019.