Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will launch first crewed mission

Boeing’s first crewed mission with its Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to launch Monday night, a milestone for the aerospace manufacturer.

The Starliner is scheduled take off around 10:30 pm on Monday, weather permitting, carrying two NASA astronauts. The Crew Flight Test will be the first time Boeing’s aerospace efforts will take people to space after a decade of development.

Boeing hopes the Starliner can take astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and plans to rival commercial spacecraft offerings from SpaceX, which has dominated private spaceflight for years.

NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will be on board for Monday’s launch, planning to spend a week on the ISS. The test flight will also see astronauts take the spacecraft through a series of careful maneuvers to increase its capabilities.

A successful mission would be a huge success for Boeing, which has consistently lagged behind SpaceX since both companies were selected for commercial spaceflight in 2014. SpaceX has operated nine crewed missions to date, while Boeing has flown just two flights unmanned.

Boeing received more than $4 billion in federal funds to develop the Starliner, while SpaceX received about $2.6 billion.

The Starliner will sit atop the iconic Atlas V rocket, the first time a crewed flight will use the Atlas V since the Mercury spaceflights of the 1960s, led by John Glenn’s famous first orbit in 1962. It will be the 100th launch of the Atlas. System V, which has been used for satellite launches ever since.

The flight to the ISS is expected to take about 26 hours and plans to be docked there for eight days before returning to the western US. The company has planned six crewed missions to the platform over the next six years, the projected end of the ISS’s operational lifespan.