Boeing Starliner-1 Explained

Boeing Starliner-1
Mission Type:ISS crew transport
Operator:Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Mission Duration:180 days (planned)
Spacecraft Type:Boeing Starliner
Manufacturer:Boeing Defense, Space & Security
Launch Date: August 2025 (planned)[1]
Launch Rocket:Atlas V N22
Launch Site:Cape Canaveral, SLC-41
Launch Contractor:United Launch Alliance
Crew Size:4
Docking:
Docking Type:dock
Docking Port:Harmony zenith
Time Docked:180 days (planned)
Orbit Reference:Geocentric orbit
Orbit Regime:Low Earth orbit
Orbit Inclination:51.66°
Apsis:gee
Programme:Commercial Crew Program
Previous Mission:SpaceX Crew-10
Next Mission:SpaceX Crew-11
Programme2:Boeing Starliner flights
Previous Mission2:Boeing Crew Flight Test
Next Mission2:Boeing Starliner-2

Boeing Starliner-1, also called Post Certification Mission-1 (PCM-1), is planned to be the first operational crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Commercial Crew Program. It will be the fourth orbital flight mission of the Starliner overall.[2] It is scheduled to launch no earlier than August 2025, transporting members of a future ISS expedition.

Crew

As this marks the first operational flight of Starliner, a Russian cosmonaut is not expected to be on board as Roscosmos has stated they do not want to put Russian cosmonauts on Starliner until it has flown successful Commercial Crew Program flights.[3]

On 18 April 2022, NASA said that it has not finalized which of the cadre of Starliner astronauts, including Barry Wilmore, Michael Fincke, and Sunita Williams, will fly on the CFT mission or this mission.[4] On 16 June 2022, NASA confirmed that CFT will be a two-person flight test, and Williams was assigned to the CFT mission.

On 30 September 2022, Scott D. Tingle was assigned as commander and Michael Fincke as pilot.[5] Fincke is also a backup crew member on Boe-CFT.[6]

On 22 November 2023, Joshua Kutryk was assigned to the mission by the Canadian Space Agency.[7] Expedition 72/73 astronaut Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is expected to take the fourth seat.[8]

Due to its delays, several astronauts originally assigned to Starliner-1 were reassigned to other missions: In 2018, Sunita Williams was planned to fly on Starliner-1,[9] she was later reassigned to the earlier CFT. Jeanette Epps was added to the Starliner-1 mission on 25 August 2020[10] but reassigned to SpaceX Crew-8 in August 2023.[11] Koichi Wakata was officially added to the Starliner-1 mission on 21 May 2021 but then reassigned to the SpaceX Crew-5 mission which launched in October 2022.[12] [13] [14]

Mission

This mission was intended to be the first reuse of a Starliner spacecraft. That vehicle was initially flown as the first uncrewed Orbital Flight Test mission in December 2019. On 22 December 2019, Sunita Williams (at that time assigned to be commander on this mission) announced the name "Calypso" for the spacecraft.[15] Calypso was used for Boe-CFT instead. Spacecraft 2, which was used for Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 will instead be flying this mission.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Robinson-Smith . Will . 26 July 2024 . NASA holds briefings on Crew 9 mission as SpaceX nears return to flight . 27 July 2024 . Spaceflight Now . en-US.
  2. Web site: Boeing's Starliner Makes Progress Ahead of Flight Test with Astronauts. NASA Commercial Crew . NASA. 28 August 2020. 29 August 2020.
  3. News: . August 4, 2022 . NASA official sees possibility of expanding integrated flight deal with Russia . . August 5, 2022.
  4. News: Clark . Stephen . Starliner astronauts eager to see results of crew capsule test flight. 18 May 2022 . 19 May 2022 . Spaceflight Now . https://web.archive.org/web/20220523130644/https://spaceflightnow.com/2022/05/18/starliner-astronauts-eager-to-see-results-of-crew-capsule-test-flight/ . 23 May 2022 . live .
  5. Web site: NASA Updates Crew Assignments for First Starliner Crew Rotation Flight . NASA. 30 September 2022. 30 September 2022.
  6. Web site: Potter . Sean . 2022-06-16 . NASA Updates Astronaut Assignments for Boeing Starliner Test Flight . 2022-06-17 . NASA.
  7. Web site: Cawley . James . 2023-11-22 . Mission Specialist Assigned to NASA's Boeing Starliner-1 Mission . 2023-11-22 . NASA.
  8. Web site: Next up is launch, as Boeing's Starliner takes trek to Cape Canaveral. 17 April 2024. 21 April 2024.
  9. Web site: NASA Assigns Crews to First Test Flights, Missions on Commercial Spacecraft. 3 August 2018. 5 August 2023.
  10. Boeing. 1298282856544972800. 25 August 2020. The Starliner team is adding a new NASA astronaut . Boeing.
  11. Web site: Space Station Assignments Out for NASA's SpaceX Crew-8 Mission. 5 August 2023. 5 August 2023.
  12. Web site: NASA, Boeing target July 30 for redo of Starliner test flight to ISS. Orlando Sentinel. 21 May 2021.
  13. NASA Announces Astronaut Changes for Upcoming Commercial Crew Missions. NASA. 6 October 2021. 7 October 2021.
  14. 1447753014777810947. jaxa_wdc. JAXA has announced their WAKATA Koichi @Astro_Wakata is headed for the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's…. 12 October 2021.
  15. Astro_Suni. 1208780116630876160. 22 December 2019. Thanking two mission control personnel . Williams. Sunita.