Starliner

Meet Starliner, Boeing’s crew capsule for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Boeing is one of two companies building commercial human space capsules for NASA and will be the second of the two to start flying humans.

Starliner could carry a crew of seven to and from the International Space Station for missions that could last six months. Boeing says it will be available for private astronaut missions to the ISS or completely private free-flying orbital missions.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Starliner spacecraft, named Calypso, can fly autonomously or be steered manually and is expected to rendezvous and dock with the space station on Wednesday, May 8. Wilmore and Williams will spend about a week at the orbiting laboratory before the crew capsule makes a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States.

Tech Specs

Launch mass: 13000 kg

Crew capacity: Up to 7

Diameter: 4.56 m (15.0 ft)

Length: 5.03 m (16.5 ft)

Design life: 60 hours (free flight). 210 days (docked)

Flight Heritage

First Flight

A Starliner flew for the first time on December 20, 2019, on the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission for NASA.

Immediately after launch, a series of critical issues plagued Starliner and nearly resulted in the loss of the ship. Barely able to get to orbit, the week-long flight was aborted.

Starliner landed, not without further critical issues, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on December 22.

An investigation showed a lack of necessary software testing on Boeing’s part as well as critical oversight failures on NASA’s end. Both organizations have corrected and extensively tested the software on Starliner.

Second Flight

Starliner flew on May 19, 2022, on the second uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission for NASA.

Starliner successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on May 21, 2022. After 4 days, the Boeing spacecraft undocked from the space station. About four hours after departing, it successfully deployed its three main parachutes and six airbags. It then touched down onto its airbags, wrapping up the six-day journey, which tested the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable spacecraft.

Upcoming First Crew Flight

This upcoming mission will mark the second flight for this Starliner spacecraft, following its inaugural mission in December 2019, Orbital Flight Test-1 (OFT-1). Upon its successful return, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams named the spacecraft "Calypso".

Pilot: Sunita L. Williams.

Spacecraft Commander: Butch Wilmore.

Courtesy of NASA

A ULA Atlas V rocket will send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Boeing Company’s CST-100 Starliner capsule. The Starliner will launch on the Atlas V from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Florida’s Space Coast.

Tech Specs

Height: 58.3 m (191 ft) with payload fairing, 52.4 m (172 ft) with Starliner

Diameter: 3.81 m (12.5 ft)

Mass: 590,000 kg (1,300,000 lb)

Stages: 2

Dual Engine Centaur: For CST-100 Starliner missions, the Centaur upper stage will fly with two RL10A-4-2 engines, offering more thrust to accommodate the Starliner. It also helps shape the ascent trajectory to the Space Station.

Launch Vehicle Adapter (LVA) and Aeroskirt: The launch vehicle adapter (LVA) provides the structural attachment of the Starliner capsule to the Atlas V rocket. The LVA uses a truss structure and metallic ring to attach the spacecraft to the Centaur upper stage. ULA also designed a 70-inch-long aeroskirt to extend the Starliner aerodynamic surface, which enhances the aerodynamic characteristics, stability, and loads of the Atlas V for the unique crewed configuration.

Emergency Detection System (EDS): This system monitors various launch vehicle parameters to determine the health of the rocket, and provides a capability to take action by signaling an abort command so the Starliner can escape if necessary.

The workhorse Atlas V rocket from ULA is the launch vehicle of choice for the Starliner crew capsule.

For this role, Atlas V flies in a unique configuration with no payload fairing and a special aeroskirt at the base of Starliner.

This variant is called the N22 because the rocket has no payload fairings "N," two solid rocket motors "2," and two engines on its Centaur upper stage "2".

A dual-engine Centaur upper stage has so far only been used on the Atlas V for Starliner missions while dual-engine Centaur stages flew more than 160 times on previous versions of the Atlas.

When launching Starliner, Atlas V does not climb quickly out of Earth's atmosphere but instead flies much lower than usual.

This is done to make sure Starliner and its future crews can safely abort away from the Atlas V at any point during launch.

Photo: ULA

Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) is a significant launch site located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. Originally built in the 1960s, SLC-41 was designed to support the Titan III and Titan IV rocket programs. Throughout its history, the pad has been used for various missions, including the deployment of military and reconnaissance satellites. A notable launch from SLC-41 was the Cassini spacecraft mission, which began its journey to Saturn in 1997.

In the early 2000s, SLC-41 was repurposed to support the Atlas V rocket, operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA). This transition involved extensive upgrades to the pad’s infrastructure and the installation of new ground support equipment to accommodate the Atlas V. These modifications ensured that SLC-41 could meet the requirements of modern space missions.

Under ULA’s management, SLC-41 has hosted a range of important launches, including the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which successfully landed the Curiosity rover on Mars in August 2012, and the launch of GPS III satellites, enhancing global positioning capabilities. The pad has also supported Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule, which is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner capsule, designed to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station, has been launched from SLC-41 to support crewed missions.

Looking to the future, SLC-41 is set to support ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. The Vulcan Centaur is intended to replace the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets, marking a new era in ULA’s launch capabilities with enhanced performance and cost-efficiency. The pad’s infrastructure will be further updated to accommodate this next-generation rocket.

ISS - Harmony forward

The Harmony module, also known within NASA as Node-2, was launched to the ISS in October 2007 on the STS-120 mission of Shuttle Discovery.

Harmony serves as the gateway between the U.S. scientific and living modules and ESA's Columbus laboratory and JAXA’s Kibo lab complex.

The module is equipped with two docking ports for U.S. crew (Dragon and Starliner) and cargo (Dragon) spacecraft and also has one berthing port that can be used for either Northrop Grumman's Cygnus or Japan's HTV cargo crafts.

Photo: The Harmony module, with the forward docking port visible. Credit: NASA

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will land at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) was Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities.

About four hours after departing the space station, Starliner touched down in New Mexico which tested the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable spacecraft. The landing followed a deorbit burn, separation of the spacecraft’s service module, and successful deployment of its three main parachutes and six airbags.

Image and caption: NASA

Download the Supercluster app to track spacecraft traffic and view crewmembers aboard the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong Space Station.

Alternatively, you can use the web version of our Stations Dashboard on Supercluster's website.

We now track "Arrivals and Departures" for both stations through a new "Timetable" feature, covering crew rotations and cargo resupply missions.

You can also switch between the ISS and Tiangong to see their relative positions over Earth on our mini-map.

A recent update allows users to enable push alerts for notifications when space stations pass over their location.

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