NASA officials have cleared Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft for Thursday’s flight after a thorough review of the crew capsule’s readiness, setting the stage for final pre-launch preparations at Cape Canaveral ahead of liftoff Dec. 20 to the International Space Station.
According to SpaceFlight Now, the Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test will blast off on top of a 52.4-meter United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The test flight is a prerequisite for the first Starliner launch with astronauts on-board, a milestone mission scheduled some time in 2020.
“Together, NASA and Boeing are ready to demonstrate the capabilities of the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft ton top of a human-rated Atlas 5 rocket,” said James Morhard, NASA’s deputy administrator. “This is the first flight test to the International Space Station of this new crew-capable system.”
This was announced during the briefings and discussion at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, representatives from NASA, Boeing and United Launch Alliance reviewed the status of flight hardware, software and the space station’s readiness to receive the Starliner spacecraft.
