After years of anticipation, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule has flown its first crew into space on the 100th flight of an Atlas V launch vehicle. Capping off Starliner’s test campaign, the Crew Flight Test (CFT) has sent Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams on a trajectory to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) where they will remain for about a week.
Launch was initially scheduled for May 6, but was scrubbed just under two hours before the flight due to an issue with an oxygen relief valve on the Centaur upper stage. Liftoff was then scheduled for June 1 at 12:25 PM EDT (16:25 UTC). On this second attempt, the rocket entered a hold at approximately T-3:50 due to a fault in the ground support equipment that controls the launch vehicle’s countdown. The launch took place on Wednesday, June 5 at 10:52 AM EDT (14:52 UTC).
While CFT was the first crewed flight on Starliner, it also marked the first flight of humans on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, as well as the first crewed flight from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since Apollo 7 in 1968.
Following this launch, Starliner will join SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in the rotation of vehicles contracted to bring crews to and from the ISS for long-duration stays.