Boeing Crewed Flight Test
.jpg) Boeing Starliner CFT crew capsule mounted atop a ULA Atlas V launch vehicle at launch pad undergoing pre-launch preparations | |
| Names | Boe-CFT |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Test flight |
| Operator | Boeing Defense, Space, & Security |
| Mission duration | ~8 days (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Boeing Starliner Calypso |
| Spacecraft type | Boeing Starliner |
| Manufacturer | Boeing Defense, Space, & Security |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 2 |
| Members | Barry E. Wilmore Sunita Williams |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | TBD |
| Rocket | Atlas V N22 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | TBD |
| Landing site | White Sands Missile Range |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Inclination | 51.66° |
| Docking with International Space Station | |
| Docking port | Harmony forward |
| Docking date | TBD (planned) |
| Undocking date | TBD (planned) |
| Time docked | TBD (planned) |
Boeing Crew Flight Test (Boe-CFT) will be the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner and the third orbital flight test of the Starliner overall after the two uncrewed orbital flight tests, Boe-OFT and Boe-OFT 2 in 2019 and 2022. The flight was scheduled for liftoff at 2:34 on 7 May UTC (May 6, 2024 at 10:34 PM EDT time), but was scrubbed about two hours before liftoff. The cause of the 6 May 2024 mission scrub was due to an oxygen valve problem on the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V, and not due to any anomaly on the Starliner portion of the rocket. The launch was scheduled to occur no earlier than May 25 at 19:09 UTC (Saturday, May 25, 2024, at 3:09 PM EDT); however, due to the helium leak, managers needed more time to evaluate, and it was postponed.
The first crewed flight test was initially planned to occur in 2017. Various delays pushed the launch of the CFT mission to no earlier than 21 July 2023, but Boeing announced in August 2023 that it would be delayed to no earlier than March 2024 due to issues with the parachute system and wiring harnesses and further investigations.
The mission will entail flying a crew of two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for a one-week test flight and then returning the crew via a ground landing in the American Southwest. The spacecraft was integrated with the Atlas launch vehicle on 16 April 2024 in preparation for launch.
Capsule CFT will be the second mission for the Starliner Calypso capsule, which was first used on the first OFT mission. NASA announced that Boeing prepared to reassemble the vehicle for flight, following multiple checkouts, for the CFT mission in August 2020, and that new parachutes and airbags would be fitted. The CFT capsule's docking system was modified to accommodate the new re-entry cover that debuted on the OFT 2 test flight.
Crew Nicole Aunapu Mann was initially assigned to this mission, which would have made her the first woman to fly on the maiden crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft, but was subsequently reassigned to the SpaceX Crew-5 mission as the first female commander of a NASA Commercial Crew Program launch. Due to medical reasons, Eric Boe, who was originally assigned to the mission in August 2018 as the pilot was replaced by Michael Fincke on 22 January 2019. Boe will replace Fincke as the assistant to the chief for commercial crew in the astronaut office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson was originally assigned to the flight as commander, but he was replaced by NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore on 7 October 2020. Ferguson cited family reasons for the replacement. Matthew Dominick replaced him on the backup crew.
On 18 April 2022, NASA said that it had not finalized which of the cadre of Starliner astronauts, including Barry Wilmore, Michael Fincke, and Sunita Williams, will fly on this mission or the first operational Starliner mission. On 16 June 2022, NASA confirmed that this CFT mission will be a two-person flight test, consisting of Wilmore and Williams; Fincke is to train as the backup spacecraft test pilot and remains eligible for assignment to a future mission. Williams is expected to become the first woman to fly on the maiden crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft type (Judith Resnik was the first female crew member on the maiden flight of an orbital spacecraft, the Space Shuttle Discovery, followed by Kathryn Thornton on Endeavour, Shannon Walker on Crew Dragon Resilience, Kayla Barron on Endurance, and Samantha Cristoforetti and Jessica Watkins on Freedom).