Hold your horses, space adventurers! Boeing’s Starliner capsule won’t be taking private citizens to space just yet. Their focus is squarely on NASA for now.
Boeing is laser-focused on getting its first Starliner mission with NASA astronauts off the ground. This mission, called Crew Flight Test (CFT), is scheduled for launch no earlier than May 6th. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be on board!
After the CFT mission, Boeing will turn its attention to making sure they have enough Starliner capsules for all their upcoming missions with NASA. These missions are expected to keep them busy until at least 2030. Private space flights are definitely a possibility for Boeing in the future, but they’re on hold for now. There’s plenty of time to figure out those details later.
This focus on NASA missions is a bit different from SpaceX, the other company that flies astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX has already flown private citizens to space, but Boeing is taking a more cautious approach. While SpaceX is busy rocketing space tourists to the International Space Station (ISS), Boeing’s Starliner capsule is taking a different approach.
Boeing says the market for private space tourism is still too new and uncertain for them to jump in right now. They’re not sure they can make money doing it yet. Boeing’s Starliner capsule has had a rough few years. The first test flight in 2019 didn’t even reach the ISS, and they’ve had to fix a bunch of problems since then. These delays and fixes have cost Boeing a lot of money.
Despite the delays, NASA seems happy with Boeing’s progress. They’re impressed with how Boeing is carefully fixing all the issues with Starliner.
So, it looks like space tourism will have to wait a bit for Boeing. For now, they’re focused on making sure their Starliner capsule is safe and reliable for NASA astronauts.
Veteran astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams just arrived at Kennedy Space Center to get ready for the big launch. They’ll be putting the Starliner capsule through its paces to make sure everything is working perfectly. Think of it like a test drive before a big road trip!
Wilmore and Williams will practice using manual controls and dealing with emergency situations, such as deploying solar panels. This will help make sure Starliner is safe for long missions in space.
If the test flight goes well, the first official Starliner mission (Starliner-1) is scheduled for early 2025. This mission will carry astronauts Mike Fincke and Scott Tingle from NASA, along with Joshua Kutryk from the Canadian Space Agency. They’ll be spending a whole six months up on the International Space Station!
