NASA and Boeing announce a manned test flight for Starliner in April 2023. This date takes into account the heavy traffic around the ISS at the start of the year.
Once again, Boeing will have to be patient. The American aircraft manufacturer, which has been hoping for two years to complete the qualification of its Starliner space shuttle, now faces a new schedule for its test flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The updated schedule for this take-off was unveiled on November 3, 2022 by NASA.
The American space agency has reserved a slot in April 2023 to launch the Starliner, explains a publication on the official NASA website. This date was chosen taking into account the heavy traffic that the ISS is expected to experience early next year – including the SpaceX Crew-6 mission, the Russian Soyuz MS-23 mission and the Axiom-2 tourist mission.
“Deconflict” spacecraft traffic
” Adjusting the date helps to ‘deconflict’ spacecraft traffic going to the space station “, indicates the agency in its update. In theory, the Crew-6 mission is expected for February 2023, the Soyuz MS-23 mission for March and Axiom-2 for May. However, the ISS does not have enough attachment points and space to accommodate so many people at once.
For Boeing and NASA, these five months of time will be used to finalize the preparation of the space vehicle for its journey into space. The American manufacturer has already taken a very important step in the spring, by successfully completing a first unmanned test flight. The capsule was able to reach the ISS, hang onto it and return to Earth a few days later.
The mission expected in April 2023 should be an opportunity to reproduce the same flight, except that the capsule will this time be occupied by two astronauts: Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams. Both are veterans of space trips, with several spacewalks. Together, they cumulate 500 days spent in space.
If all goes well, the two astronauts will stay on board the ISS for about two weeks before returning. Once this step has been completed, NASA will finalize the qualification of Boeing, which can then begin to operate operational flights to the ISS on behalf of the space agency and other partner nations, in addition to SpaceX.
