Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft successfully ‘docked’ ISS

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner unmanned spacecraft on a mission named OFT-2 was launched at 6:54 am on May 19 (local time, 5:54 am on 20.5 VN time) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft was launched on the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.

The ship docked with the ISS at 20:28 on May 20 (7:28 on May 21, Vietnam time) in the upper southern Indian Ocean, according to Reuters.

Starliner spacecraft approaches ISS AFP

“Spaceship Starliner completed its historic first docking to the ISS, opening a new avenue of crew access to this orbiting testing facility,” a Boeing spokesperson said.

The ship’s “docking” was more than an hour later than expected because of technical problems, including related to the ship’s two propulsion engines. However, officials said the problem did not affect the flight process.

Starliner successfully connected with ISS AFP

With the Crew spacecraft Dragon of the SpaceX docked at the ISS, the arrival of the Starliner marks the first time that spacecraft from both NASA’s commercial space program partners are docking with the ISS at the same time.

The Starliner is scheduled to return to Earth on May 25. This mission is considered a great success of Boeing as the company looks to weather a crisis in commercial aircraft and space defense.

Starliner launched on May 20 Reuters

The Starliner program cost Boeing nearly $600 million after its first attempt failed in 2019 when the spacecraft failed to dock with the ISS. If all goes well, Starliner could send astronauts to the ISS as early as this fall.

In 2011, the US ended the space shuttle program and since then have had to depend on Russia’s Soyuz rockets to carry astronauts to the ISS.

In 2014, two companies Boeing and SpaceX were awarded a contract by the US to develop a spacecraft to carry people to the ISS. By 2020, SpaceX has successfully completed the mission to put people into orbit with the Crew Dragon spacecraft.