Cape Canaveral, Florida: NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams became the first people to launch to orbit inside a Boeing Starliner, lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:52am ET and embarking on a 25-hour flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch marks the beginning of the NASA-Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT).
“This crew flight test represents the beginning of a new era of space exploration as we watch astronauts Wilmore and Williams put Boeing’s Starliner through its paces on the way to the International Space Station,” said Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Ted Colbert. “This is a great start. We look forward to getting the astronauts safely to the space station and back home.”
Wilmore and Williams are also the first to launch on an Atlas V rocket and are currently experiencing microgravity on their way to the space station. They will conduct a series of flight test objectives, including manually flying Starliner.
Along with the two crew members, Starliner is carrying about 760 pounds (345 kilograms) of cargo. Once docked to the ISS, Wilmore and Williams will spend about a week on station before returning to Earth. Following a successful CFT, Boeing and NASA will continue working to certify Starliner for long-duration operational missions to the ISS.
