CST-100 Starliner
Context
- The launch of Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), which was supposed to lift off has been postponed.
- The spacecraft, which is called the Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100), is part of an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS).
- The mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
What is the CST-100 Starliner and what is its purpose?
- The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a class of reusable crew capsules expected to transport crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth orbit destinations.
- It is manufactured by Boeing for its participation in NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
- The Boeing Starliner holds a crew of up to seven people and is being designed to be able to remain in-orbit for up to seven months with reusability of up to ten missions.
- It is designed to be compatible with the Atlas V, Delta IV, Falcon 9, and Vulcan Centaur launch vehicles.
- The Starliner, will take roughly 24 hours to reach the ISS, after which it will dock there.
- The Starliner features wireless internet and tablet technology for crew interfaces.
NASA's Commercial Crew Program
- NASA's commercial crew program is a partnership between SpaceX, Boeing and NASA to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.
- Unlike previous human spaceflight programs, NASA is a customer buying flights from commercial providers.
- The program is helping to lower the cost of spaceflight and create new a commercial market for humans in space.
- It will also ease NASA’s burden of transporting astronauts and it would be able to focus on greater scientific research and building spacecraft and rockets meant for deep space exploration missions.
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