Boeing targets April 2023 crewed Starliner spacecraft flight

Launch pushed back a couple months from previous February date

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner crew ship approaches the International Space Station on the company’s Orbital Flight Test-2 mission before automatically docking to the Harmony module’s forward port. The orbiting lab was flying 268 miles above the south Pacific at the time of this photograph was taken on May 20, 2022. (NASA)

A crewed flight on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has now been pushed back to April 2023.

The launch, last scheduled for February, is now happening sometime in April to meet “scheduling needs” with the International Space Station, according to Boeing.

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“We understand our customer must consider the needs of the International Space Station in scheduling the certification flight of a second U.S. commercial crew transportation system,” Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager for the Starliner program, said in a release. “We are working to have the CFT vehicle ready to fly ahead of the new launch date.”

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams will be the astronaut test pilots for the Crew Flight Test mission that will take off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NASA astronaut Mike Fincke will be training as a backup test pilot.

An uncrewed launch of the capsule happened at the end of May from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Boeing’s Starliner launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for its second-ever orbital test flight.

It successfully docked at the International Space Station and stayed there for a few days. While the capsule was docked at the ISS, astronauts aboard the space station reviewed the capsule’s systems and rendezvous procedures.


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About the Author

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.

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