After about a decade of setbacks and challenges, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is set to head to orbit with crew aboard for the first time tomorrow evening. To say that it has been a roller coaster for engineers and managers of the legacy-rich company would be a massive understatement. Still, the mood among the Space Coast workers at Boeing is best described as quietly confident.
The main object of tomorrow’s flight is to test Starliner, give it a shakedown cruise, and determine how it behaves with the crew aboard. If all goes well during ascent and initially after achieving orbit, astronauts Williams and Wilmore will begin those tests and match orbits with the International Space Station, where they plan to dock later this week.
