Insider Brief:
- Boeing has decided to focus on NASA missions for its Starliner capsule, putting space tourism on hold – for now.
- The company’s first NASA mission, Crew Flight Test is scheduled to launch on May 6th.
- The following NASA missions are set to keep Boeing occupied until at least 2030 as the company works to ensure they have enough Starliner capsules.
Boeing has decided to focus on NASA missions for its Starliner capsule, putting space tourism on the back burner – for now.
The company is reportedly prioritizing its first Starliner mission with NASA astronauts, called Crew Flight Test (CFT). Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be the two astronauts to pilot the mission as reported by NBC News and are scheduled for launch on May 6th.
The following NASA missions are set to keep Boeing occupied until at least 2030 as the company works to ensure they have enough Starliner capsules.
As a result of several setbacks for the Starliner capsule, Boeing is taking a more cautious approach to private citizen space flight, but has assured the public, it is certainly a possibility for the future.
Wilmore and Williams are set to pilot the Starliner on its first crewed test flight to the International Space Station. If the test flight goes well, the first official Starliner mission, Starliner-1, will go ahead in early 2025. Starliner-1 will carry NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Scott Tingle and Joshua Kutryk from the Canadian Space Agency to the International Space Station where they will be stationed for six months.
Image credit: Boeing
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