Boeing Starliner Launch Set for Tonight

The Boeing Starliner is scheduled to launch today at 10:34 PM EDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, U.S.

The Boeing Starliner is a spacecraft designed and built by Boeing as part of NASA‘s Commercial Crew Program. Today’s flight is a test in preparation for the Boeing Starliner-1 mission, scheduled for 2025, to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The CST-100 Starliner is Boeing’s first spacecraft designed to be reusable for crewed missions. Following the steps of SpaceX‘s Crew Dragon, Starliner features reusable crew capsules that can be reused up to ten times, with a six-month turnaroud between flights.

The mission crew consists of two NASA astronauts: Barry E. Wilmore, a U.S. Navy veteran who has already completed two spaceflights, including a 167-day mission on the ISS; and Sunita Williams, who has served on Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33 to the International Space Station.

Once the spacecraft is launched into space, Wilmore and Williams will reach the ISS and spend a week there. The two astronauts will then return Earth using the same Starliner capsule.

If the mission is sucessful, NASA will proceed with the first operational crew mission of the Boeing Starliner-1, named Post Certification Mission-1, in early 2025.

NASA live broadcast of Boeing Starliner launch

NASA offers a free broadcast of Boeing Starliner launch on its YouTube channel, starting at 6:30 PM EDT, where you can follow the astronauts’ full preparation.