NASA set to launch Boeing's (CST)-100 Starliner cargo spacecraft to ISS on August 3

NASA is set to launch the second uncrewed flight Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission to the International Space Station. The mission is targeted to launch at 1:20 pm EDT on August 3, Tuesday. Starliner will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, NASA informed in an official press release. Nearly 30 minutes after its launch, the Starliner will perform its orbital insertion burn to begin its daylong trip to the space station and is scheduled to dock to the ISS at about 1:37 pm Wednesday. 

“The spacecraft will carry more than 400 pounds of NASA cargo and crew supplies to the space station. It will return to Earth with more than 550 pounds of cargo, including the reusable Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System tanks that provide breathable air to station crew members,” NASA said in the release.

“OFT-2 will demonstrate the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V rocket, from launch to docking, to a return to Earth with a desert landing in the western United States,” it continued. 

Developed in collaboration with NASA's commercial Crew Program, Boeing's Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner spacecraft was designed to accommodate seven passengers for missions to low-Earth orbit. For NASA service missions to the International Space Station (ISS), it will carry up to four NASA-sponsored crew members and time-critical scientific research. Boeing's 21st-century space capsule is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time and flaunts wireless internet and tablet technology for the NASA crew. 

One can watch the launch LIVE on NASA TV at 12:30 pm Tuesday. Continuous coverage is planned through Starliner orbital insertion with a post-launch news conference scheduled for 3:30 pm. According to NASA, the uncrewed mission is expected to generate valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular flights to and from the space station.

Wednesday, Aug. 4

• 10:30 a.m. – NASA TV rendezvous and docking coverage begins.
• 1:37 p.m. (scheduled) – Docking

Thursday, Aug. 5

• 8:30 a.m. – NASA TV hatch opening coverage begins
• 8:40 a.m. – Hatch opening
• 9:40 a.m. (approximately) –Welcoming remarks

NASA TV Launch Coverage

NASA TV live coverage will begin at 12:30 pm on NASA TV