Starliner

Meet Starliner, Boeing’s crew capsule for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Boeing is one of two companies building commercial human space capsules for NASA and will be the second of the two to start flying humans.

Starliner will carry a normal crew of four to and from the International Space Station for six-month missions. It is available for purchase for private astronaut missions to the ISS or completely private free-flying orbital missions.

Stats

Launch mass: 13000 kg

Crew capacity: Up to 7

Diameter: 4.56 m (15.0 ft)

Length: 5.03 m (16.5 ft)

Design life: 60 hours (free flight). 210 days (docked)

First Flight

A Starliner flew for the first time on December 20, 2019, on the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT) mission for NASA.

Immediately after launch, a series of critical issues plagued Starliner and nearly resulted in the loss of the ship. Barely able to get to orbit, the week-long flight was aborted.

Starliner landed, not without further critical issues, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on December 22.

An investigation showed a lack of necessary software testing on Boeing’s part as well as critical oversight failures on NASA’s end. Both organizations have corrected and extensively tested the software on Starliner.

Update from NASA January 24th, 2023

The Starliner spacecraft for the Crew Flight Test (CFT) is now complete, following the mating of its crew and service modules.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner team completed the production milestone on Thursday, Jan. 19, in advance of the planned April launch with NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to the International Space Station.

During the operation, a crane lifted the reusable crew module atop the brand-new service module in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to become a fully operational spacecraft.

“Every member of our team is invested in giving Butch and Suni a great ride to the International Space Station,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager for the Starliner program. “We’re building off the successes and lessons learned from Orbital Flight Test-2, and all of the pieces for CFT are coming together.”

With a completed spacecraft, teams will continue outfitting the crew module’s interior, conducting integrated vehicle testing, and performing final spacecraft checkouts. The spacecraft will then undergo weight and center of gravity testing prior to rolling out of the Starliner factory en route to its United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch complex.

CFT is targeted to launch in April 2023, in accordance with the International Space Station visiting vehicle schedule.

Second Flight

Starliner flew on May 19, 2022, on the second uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission for NASA.

Starliner successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on May 21, 2022. After 4 days, the Boeing spacecraft undocked from the space station. About four hours after departing, it successfully deployed its three main parachutes and six airbags. It then touched down onto its airbags, wrapping up the six-day journey, which tested the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable spacecraft.

First Crew Flight

The first crewed mission for Starliner is currently scheduled for April 2023.

It will carry three NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission duration is planned to last a total of 9 days.

Pilot: Sunita L. Willians.

Spacecraft Commander: Barry E. Wilmore.

Spacecraft Commander: E. Michael Fincke.

Update from NASA JUNE 2, 2023

NASA and Boeing completed a joint Crew Flight Test checkpoint review May 25 ahead of the first flight of Starliner with astronauts to the International Space Station. During the checkpoint, mission teams reviewed open work ahead of launch planned no earlier than July 21, including emerging issues that need a path to closure prior to a decision to fuel the spacecraft in June.

“We are taking a methodical approach to the first crewed flight of Starliner incorporating all of the lessons learned from the various in-depth testing campaigns, including Starliner’s flight tests and the agency’s verification efforts,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “All Orbital Flight Test-2 anomalies are closed. In addition to the closeout of ongoing work, the team remains vigilant on tracking new technical issues as we complete certification for crewed flight.”

As part of the ongoing effort, 95% of the Crew Flight Test certification products are complete. This includes approval of Starliner’s crew module batteries, based on additional testing and analysis, along with post-certification flight mitigations and a proposed battery upgrade for future missions. Teams are conducting final spacecraft closeouts and preparing for upcoming hardware milestones, including spacecraft fueling, spacecraft rollout to the launch site, and integration with the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

While the team continues to work the remaining certification products, they also are working resolution paths on the following items:

Teams will remove and replace a by-pass valve on the active thermal control system, which is located on the Starliner service module and is used to flow coolant into the system to cool the onboard avionics. The Starliner team is replacing the valve that was restricting flow to one of two redundant loops, and running a diagnostic to confirm the suspected issue with the malfunctioning hardware. This work is expected to take about a week with no overall impact to the launch schedule at this time.

Engineers also are working to evaluate any elevated risk from a specific type of tape used on the spacecraft to protect wires from chafing. Although the tape is commonly used in spaceflight, the adhesive properties of the tape could present a flammability risk under certain conditions. NASA and Boeing are evaluating this material and the system’s overall wiring protection to confirm it is acceptable for crewed flight. Those efforts are ongoing and are expected to complete before Boeing begins fueling operations on the spacecraft.

NASA and Boeing also are working to reassess Starliner’s parachute system margins based on new data reviews as part of the ongoing design certification process. Engineers are reviewing the overall efficiency of certain joints within the parachute system to confirm they meet all required factors of safety for crewed flight.

“Crew safety remains the highest priority for NASA and its industry providers, and emerging issues are not uncommon in human spaceflight, especially during development,” said Stich. “If you look back two months ago at the work we had ahead of us, it’s almost all complete. The combined team is resilient and resolute in their goal of flying crew on Starliner as soon as it is safe to do so. If a schedule adjustment needs to be made in the future, then we will certainly do that as we have done before. We will only fly when we are ready.”

A ULA Atlas V rocket will send astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard The Boeing Company’s CST-100 Starliner capsule. The Starliner will launch on the Atlas V from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Florida’s Space Coast.

Dual Engine Centaur: For CST-100 Starliner missions, the Centaur upper stage will fly with two RL10A-4-2 engines, offering more thrust to accommodate the Starliner. It also helps shape the ascent trajectory to the Space Station.

Launch Vehicle Adapter (LVA) and Aeroskirt: The launch vehicle adapter (LVA) provides the structural attachment of the Starliner capsule to the Atlas V rocket. The LVA uses a truss structure and metallic ring to attach the spacecraft to the Centaur upper stage. ULA also designed a 70-inch-long aeroskirt to extend the Starliner aerodynamic surface, which enhances the aerodynamic characteristics, stability, and loads of the Atlas V for the unique crewed configuration.

Emergency Detection System (EDS): This system monitors various launch vehicle parameters to determine the health of the rocket, and provides a capability to take action by signaling an abort command so the Starliner can escape if necessary.

The workhorse Atlas V rocket from ULA is the launch vehicle of choice for the Starliner crew capsule.

For this role, Atlas V flies in a unique configuration with no payload fairing and a special aeroskirt at the base of Starliner.

This variant is called the N22 because the rocket has no payload fairings "N," two solid rocket motors "2," and two engines on its Centaur upper stage "2".

A dual-engine Centaur upper stage has so far only been used on the Atlas V for Starliner missions while dual-engine Centaur stages flew more than 160 times on previous versions of the Atlas.

When launching Starliner, Atlas V does not climb quickly out of Earth's atmosphere but instead flies much lower than usual.

This is done to make sure Starliner and its future crews can safely abort away from the Atlas V at any point during launch.

Photo: Erik Kuna for Supercluster

Space Launch Complex-41 is the east-coast home of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket.

The pad hosted its first launch on December 21st, 1965 and is currently being upgraded to serve ULA's Vulcan rocket no earlier than 2022.

Vulcan and Atlas V will share the pad for several years before the Atlas is retired.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, SLC-41 was used for the U.S. Air Force’s Titan III and Titan IV rockets.

It has been the launch site of many notable missions:

• the Helios probes to study the Sun
• the Viking missions to Mars
• the Voyager interstellar probes
• the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
• New Horizon to Pluto and Kuiper Belt
• Juno to Jupiter.

The pad will soon start launching humans on Boeing's Starliner capsule beginning no earlier than 2022.

Located on Florida’s east coast, Cape Canaveral is ideally located to allow access to a wide variety of space destinations that can be reached while safely launching over the open Atlantic Ocean so as not to endanger anyone on the ground.

The Cape currently supports the launch of four different rocket families: Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, and Minotaur.

Launches of Vulcan from ULA and New Glenn from Blue Origin are set to begin no earlier than 2022 with current schedules.

NASA's Kennedy Space Center, which occupies neighboring Merritt Island, and Cape Canaveral are often confused with each other or referred to as a single place.

They are in fact separate government installations but united as a single “Eastern Range” for launch operations.

Over its history, the spaceport has held the following names:

• Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (1949-1963)
• Cape Kennedy Air Force Station (1963-1973)
• Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (1973-2020)
• Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (2020-present)

Photo: An Atlas V launches the Perseverance rover to Mars, July 2020. Credit: John Kraus

ISS - Harmony forward

The Harmony module, also known within NASA as Node-2, was launched to the ISS in October 2007 on the STS-120 mission of Shuttle Discovery.

Harmony serves as the gateway between the U.S. scientific and living modules and ESA's Columbus laboratory and JAXA’s Kibo lab complex.

The module is equipped with two docking ports for U.S. crew (Dragon and Starliner) and cargo (Dragon) spacecraft and also has one berthing port that can be used for either Northrop Grumman's Cygnus or Japan's HTV cargo crafts.

Photo: The Harmony module, with the forward docking port visible. Credit: NASA

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will land at White Sands Missile Range’s Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) was Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. OFT-2 serves as an end-to-end test of the system's capabilities.

About four hours after departing the space station, Starliner touched down in New Mexico which tested the end-to-end capabilities of the crew-capable spacecraft. The landing followed a deorbit burn, separation of the spacecraft’s service module, and successful deployment of its three main parachutes and six airbags.

Image and caption: NASA