CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., May 20 (Reuters) – Boeing’s new Starliner capsule launched on Thursday for an unmanned test flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
The CST-100 Starliner took off shortly before 23:00 GMT from Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral in Florida, placed atop an Atlas V rocket provided by the joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, United Launch Alliance (ULA).
About 30 minutes after takeoff, the capsule reached the planned preliminary orbit, after separating from the upper stage of the Atlas V rocket and flying under its own power to the trajectory that will allow it to align with the ISS.
“The Starliner capsule is in orbit and heading for the ISS,” said Josh Barrett, who was commenting on the launch for Boeing, during a NASA broadcast.
If all goes as planned, the capsule will reach the ISS in about 24 hours and will dock on Friday evening with the station, which orbits about 400 km above the Earth.
The Boeing capsule must spend four to five days attached to the space station before returning to Earth, with a planned landing in the desert of White Sands, in the American state of New Mexico.
If the mission is successful, the Starliner will provide NASA with a second reliable means of transporting astronauts to and from the ISS. (Report Joey Roulette Cap Canaveral, Florida with the contribution of Steve Gorman Los Angeles; French version Camille Raynaud)