Boeing circles March 25 for second Starliner test flight to be launched by Alabama-built ULA rocket

NASA and Boeing on Monday announced they are are targeting March 25 for the launch of Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) is a critical developmental milestone on the company’s path to fly crew missions for NASA.

This will be Boeing’s second try at delivering its Starliner vehicle to the International Space Station (ISS) in preparation for shuttling commercial crew to and from ISS.

The first Starliner mission ended prematurely as a result of a timing malfunction which led to the spacecraft missing the opportunity to set the proper course for connecting with the space station.

However, the mission was still historic and marked significant progress in the Commercial Crew Program.

Returning early to White Sands, New Mexico, the Starliner spacecraft during OFT-1 became the first-ever American orbital space capsule to land on U.S. soil. This came after the mission was launched perfectly by a Decatur-built, specially configured United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

Boeing’s design center in Huntsville provided all of the structural design for the Starliner capsule. Additionally, Boeing’s Phantom Works division, which has an operation in the Rocket City, provided the power systems for the capsule.

Overall, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is designed, built, tested and flown by a team committed to safely, reliably and sustainably transporting astronauts to and from the ISS.

A release Monday detailed that the target launch date for OFT-2 is enabled by an opening on the Eastern Range; the availability of ULA’s Atlas V rocket; steady progress on hardware and software; and an ISS docking opportunity.

Boeing recently mated the spacecraft’s reusable crew module atop its brand-new service module inside the Starliner production factory at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Teams are now working to complete outfitting of the vehicle’s interior before loading cargo and conducting final spacecraft checkouts.

Additionally, the company recently completed the formal requalification of Starliner’s OFT-2 flight software. Teams conducted a full software review and several series of tests to verify Starliner’s software meets design specifications. Boeing also will complete an end-to-end simulation of the OFT-2 test flight using flight hardware and final versions of Starliner’s flight software to model the vehicle’s expected behavior before flight.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn