Boeing Starliner Docks With Space Station

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Facts

• Boeing's Starliner capsule arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday after last-minute thruster trouble nearly derailed its first crewed mission. The capsule had a small helium leak before takeoff, and two more emerged hours into the flight.¹
• The Starliner capsule took off at 10:52 am ET on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida after years of delays. It docked at the ISS at 3:46 ET on Thursday when a fourth leak was discovered.²
• In a joint mission with NASA and United Launch Alliance (ULA), the CST-100 Starliner went into orbit atop ULA’s Atlas V rocket with two NASA astronauts on board, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.³
• This follows two failed efforts to launch Boeing’s first piloted test flight.⁴
• The first attempt, on May 6, was derailed due to trouble with a pressure-relief valve in the Atlas 5’s Centaur upper stage. A rescheduled launch last Saturday was halted four minutes before takeoff when one of ULA’s rocket-launching computers failed to sync with its counterparts.⁵
• Boeing — which has seen years of delays and tech glitches — faces competition from rival company SpaceX, which has been routinely flying its Crew Dragon capsule since 2020.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³Reuters, ⁴FOX News, ⁵CBS and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Scientific American. Boeing has arrived as a major player in the space industry with the successful launch of its Starliner, and the aerospace titan should be proud of this milestone. While there were bumps along the way, the Starliner has demonstrated that it can safely send NASA astronauts to the ISS and start launching longer missions by next year. Boeing’s efforts are paying off, and the company is ready to compete with the likes of SpaceX as a leader in space travel.
• Narrative B, as provided by Bloomberg. Regardless of Wednesday’s launch, Boeing has failed in its development of the Starliner. It has taken over a decade to achieve any meaningful progress, and failed attempts have only embarrassed the company. If that wasn’t bad enough, Boeing has had several high-profile issues with its airplanes that have diminished public trust. While it may be committed to its space missions, Boeing should instead focus on the safety of its airplanes.

Predictions