The Boeing CST-100 Starliner's crew and service modules were connected, or mated, on Jan. 19 in advance of the first launch with astronauts to the International Space Station on the company's next-generation spacecraft.

During the operation inside the company's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifted the reusable crew module atop the brand-new service module to become a fully operational spacecraft.

The complete spacecraft will fly NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams to the space station for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program. Starliner will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket no earlier than April 2023 to test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system prior to regular flights with crew to the station.

Related Links
Commercial Crew at NASA
Rocket Science News at Space-Travel.Com

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NASA, Boeing teams achieve milestone ahead of crewed flight
Houston TX (SPX) Jan 23, 2023
NASA and Boeing recently completed a full start to finish integrated mission dress rehearsal for the company's CST-100 Starliner flight with astronauts to the International Space Station, which is scheduled to launch in April 2023. The Crew Flight Test, or CFT, will launch NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Suni Williams on Starliner - atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket - from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Pro ... read more