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70-580: (Redirected from Starliners ) [REDACTED] Look up starliner in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Starliner may refer to: Boeing Starliner , a crew spacecraft Ford Starliner (1960–1961), a fastback version of the Ford Galaxie Lockheed L-1649 Starliner (1956–1958), an airplane Spaceship (disambiguation) , analog of jetliner or cruiseliner Vega Model 2 Starliner ,

140-1023: A 1939 prototype lightplane by Vega Aircraft Corporation Studebaker Starliner (1952–1954), a hardtop version of the Studebaker Starlight The Starliner, a former roller coaster at Miracle Strip Amusement Park , Panama City Beach, Florida "The Starliner", a track from Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 4: Meglos & Full Circle See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] Search for "starliner"  or "star liner" on Misplaced Pages. All pages with titles containing starliner All pages with titles containing starliners All pages with titles containing star liner All pages with titles containing star liners Liner (disambiguation) Spaceliner (disambiguation) Star (disambiguation) Starline (disambiguation) Starship (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

210-548: A US$ 4.2 billion to complete and certify the Starliner, while SpaceX received a US$ 2.6 billion to complete and certify Crew Dragon . To receive the full contract amount, each company would need to successfully complete an abort test , an uncrewed orbital flight test, a crewed orbital flight test, and six crewed missions to the ISS. However, NASA would not need to pay for any failed tests and was only required to purchase two crewed missions to

280-643: A joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, secured $ 6.7 million to develop the Emergency Detection System to allow its Atlas V rocket to be human-rated to launch Starliner. At the time, Boeing expressed optimism that the Starliner could be operational as early as 2015, contingent upon timely approvals and funding. In October 2011, NASA announced that the Orbiter Processing Facility -3 at Kennedy Space Center would be leased to Boeing for manufacture and test of Starliner, through

350-548: A long enough runway, a necessary consideration for the Space Shuttle launch abort modes . The first recoverable space capsules landed under parachute, either on land or by splashing down in a body of water. Ground landings require additional cushioning, which Starliner accomplishes with deployable airbags. This was considered for Orion as well, but was ruled out due to the extra mass required. The sub-orbital New Shepard uses retro-rockets to slow down just before touchdown,

420-529: A money-losing program and in October The Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing was exploring a sale of some of its space division programs, including Starliner. Various validation tests began on test articles in 2011 and continued on actual spacecraft starting in 2019. In September 2011, Boeing announced the completion of a set of ground drop tests to validate the design of the airbag cushioning system. The airbags are located underneath

490-479: A new service module, which provides propulsion and power-generation capacity for the spacecraft. Starliner features wireless Internet and tablet technology for crew interfaces. Starliner uses the NASA Docking System . Boeing modified the Starliner design prior to OFT-2, adding a hinged re-entry cover below its expendable nosecone for additional protection of the docking port during atmospheric entry . This

560-406: A partial failure. After launch, the spacecraft captured an " mission elapsed time " from its Atlas V launch vehicle that was 11 hours off. Consequently, when the spacecraft separated from the rocket, instead of briefly firing its reaction control thrusters to enter orbit, its computers commanded them to fire for far longer, consuming so much fuel that the spacecraft no longer had enough to dock with

630-702: A partnership with Space Florida . Over the next three years, NASA would hold three more rounds of development funding, awarding Boeing $ 92.3 million under CCDev   2 in 2011, $ 460 million under the Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) program in 2012, and $ 9.9 million under the Certification Products Contract (CPC) in 2013. NASA was expected to announce its selection for the lucrative Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract in September 2014. Boeing had lobbied NASA for

700-504: A reusable capsule and an expendable service module and is designed for missions to low Earth orbit . The capsule accommodates seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo. For NASA missions to the ISS it will carry four passengers and a small amount of cargo. The Starliner capsule uses a weldless, spun-formed structure and is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time. Boeing plans to alternate between two reusable crew modules for all planned Starliner missions. Each flight uses

770-550: A sole-source contract, arguing that it needed the program's full budget for the successful development of Starliner. Within NASA, there was considerable support for this approach, with many decision-makers expressing confidence in Boeing's capabilities and safety record. In fact, NASA officials had even drafted a justification for selecting Boeing as the sole provider. While William H. Gerstenmaier , NASA's human exploration lead, had considered

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840-551: A sub-orbital flight, marking the first spaceflight with a reusable vehicle according to United States definition. In 1963, the X-15 completed two flights above 100km. The Gemini SC-2 capsule followed, making a sub-orbital flight in 1965 and another sub-orbital flight in 1966. The first spacecraft to be reused in orbit was the Soviet VA spacecraft , a capsule that was part of the larger TKS spacecraft . A VA capsule that launched in 1977

910-480: A technique that has been used by the expendable Soyuz since the 1960s. Splashing down allows the water to cushion the spacecraft, but exposure to salt water can have adverse effects on the vehicle. Despite this, SpaceX began regularly reusing Dragon capsules after splashdown. Dragon 2 was originally designed to propusively land using its SuperDraco engines; however, propulsive landings for Dragon were canceled and Dragon 2 also uses parachutes to splashdown in

980-542: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Boeing Starliner The Boeing Starliner (or CST-100 ) is a spacecraft designed to transport crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. Developed by Boeing under NASA 's Commercial Crew Program (CCP), it consists of a reusable crew capsule and an expendable service module . Slightly larger than

1050-617: The Columbia disaster . Making a resistant yet lightweight and effective heat tile poses a challenge. The LI-900 material was used on the Space Shuttle. Runway landings from orbit became prevelant with the introduction of the Space Shuttle . Spaceplanes that land horizontally on a runway require lifting surfaces and landing gear. Designs include the Space Shuttle's delta wing and the Dream Chaser's lifting body . Spaceplanes require access to

1120-969: The Apollo command module or SpaceX Crew Dragon , but smaller than the Orion capsule , the Starliner can accommodate a crew of up to seven, though NASA plans to fly no more than four. It can remain docked to the ISS for up to seven months and is launched on an Atlas V N22 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. In 2014, NASA awarded Boeing a US$ 4.2 billion fixed-price contract to build Starliner, while SpaceX received $ 2.6 billion to develop Crew Dragon . By October 2024, Boeing's effort had exceeded its budget by at least $ 1.85   billion. Originally planned to be operational in 2017, Starliner has been repeatedly delayed by problems in management and engineering. The first uncrewed Orbital Flight Test in December 2019

1190-986: The White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the Willcox Playa in Arizona and the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. Edwards Air Force Base in California serves as a contingency landing location. All of the landing sites are in the Western United States, allowing the service module to be jettisoned for a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean. Boeing says that between all five landing sites, there will be around 450 landing opportunities each year. Following

1260-593: The chief of the astronaut office that he would not fly on Starliner. Hurley and Behnken would later go on to command the Crew Dragon's historic Demo-2 mission, the first crewed flight of the spacecraft. Williams would fly into space on the Boeing Crew Flight Test, but would return to Earth on a Crew Dragon, after thrusters malfunctioned on the Starliner. Despite being initially awarded significantly more funding, Boeing has faced substantial budget overruns for

1330-482: The ISS from each company. Following the initial guaranteed missions, the companies would compete for launch contracts on an ongoing basis. In November 2015, NASA announced that it had dropped Boeing from consideration in the multibillion-dollar Commercial Resupply Services competition to fly cargo to the International Space Station. The CST-100 (Crew Space Transportation-100) name was first used when

1400-476: The ISS. As the capsule was prepared for re-entry, another software error was discovered; it could have caused a catastrophic collision between the service module and crew capsule. The spacecraft landed at White Sands Missile Range , New Mexico , two days after launch. After its landing, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams named the spacecraft Calypso after the research vessel RV  Calypso used by oceanographic researcher Jacques Cousteau . After

1470-616: The Indian Ocean, although as of November 2024 it has not been recovered from space intact. Reusable spacecraft must survive reentry and safely return to the surface. The mass of any hardware dedicated for this reduces potential payload mass. Orbital spacecraft initiate a deorbit burn and orient themselves for atmospheric entry . The Boeing Starliner and Orion discard their service modules, including their maneuvering engines. The SpaceX Dragon discards its trunk, which includes its solar panels and radiators, but retains its Draco engines in

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1540-502: The International Space Station for approximately a week, and conducting additional tests while ground crews reviewed data from the launch and docking. Following a review and approval of this data, the capsule would have undocked and returned to Earth for a landing in the American Southwest about eight days later. However, the capsule's thrusters malfunctioned as Starliner docked with the ISS, and despite months of testing, NASA felt it

1610-577: The OFT-2 uncrewed test flight being scheduled for March 2021 and the crewed flight targeted for a launch the following summer. The launch date of OFT-2 moved again with the earliest estimated launch date set for August 2021. During the August 2021 launch window some issues were detected with 13 propulsion-system valves in the spacecraft prior to launch. The spacecraft had already been mated to its launch rocket, United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Atlas V , and taken to

1680-573: The OMAC thrusters. Boeing designed the capsule to make ground landings instead of a splashdown , a first for a crewed capsule mission launched from the United States. After reentering the atmosphere, three parachutes will be deployed, slowing the capsule to approximately 4 miles per hour (350 ft/min; 1.8 m/s). Before reaching the ground, six airbags will deploy to cushion the landing. There are four primary landing locations, including two sites inside

1750-474: The RCS thrusters. This stress testing revealed performance degradation in the thrusters, leading the spacecraft software to consider five of them damaged and unusable, and five separate helium leaks were detected in the service module. The five failed thrusters were all aft-facing, resulting in a loss of six degrees of freedom attitude control until four of them were restored. The astronauts were able to safely dock

1820-404: The Space Shuttle program drew to a close, NASA sought to foster the development of new spaceflight capabilities. Departing from the traditional model of government-owned and operated spacecraft, NASA proposed a revolutionary approach: companies would own and operate spacecraft, while NASA would act as a customer, purchasing flights as needed. To incentivize innovation, NASA offered funding to support

1890-463: The Starliner development schedule. The uncrewed Boeing Orbital Flight Test (OFT) launched on December 20, 2019, bearing an Anthropomorphic Test Device nicknamed "Rosie the Rocketeer" and clothed in Boeing's blue IVA spacesuit as well as a Plush toy of Jedediah Kerman from Kerbal Space Program . It landed two days later, having nearly ended in catastrophic failure. The mission was ultimately declared

1960-463: The Starliner program, exceeding $ 1.85   billion as of October 2024 . In November 2019, NASA's Office of Inspector General released a report revealing that a change to Boeing's contract had occurred in 2016, stating: "For Boeing's third through sixth crewed missions, we found that NASA agreed to pay an additional $ 287.2 million above Boeing's fixed prices to mitigate a perceived 18-month gap in ISS flights anticipated in 2019 and to ensure

2030-617: The Starliner proposal as stronger, he was hesitant to award a sole-source contract. The multi-year Commercial Crew Program had been designed to foster competition and redundancy, and Gerstenmaier believed that selecting just one company would undermine these goals. Through his efforts, he successfully convinced NASA to delay the CCtCap announcement and secure additional funding to support two competing efforts. On September 16, 2014, NASA announced that both Boeing and SpaceX would be awarded CCtCap contracts to develop crewed spacecraft. Boeing received

2100-465: The addition of the Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters. A couple of RCS thrusters used to maneuver Starliner also failed during docking due to low chamber pressure. Some thermal systems used to cool the spacecraft showed extra cold temperatures, requiring engineers to manage it during the docking. On May 22, 2022, the capsule docked with the International Space Station. On May 25, 2022,

2170-478: The airbags used to cushion the capsule's landing. The crew module for the OFT-2 mission began acceptance testing in August 2020, which is designed to validate the spacecraft's systems before it is mated with its service module, according to NASA. On November 10, 2020, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said that the second orbital flight test would be delayed until first quarter 2021 due to software issues. The uncrewed test continued to slip, with

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2240-514: The astronauts and the engineers at the two companies. While the SpaceX engineers were receptive to feedback, enthusiastic about collaborating, and attentive to suggestions, Hurley found the Boeing engineers to be indifferent, arrogant, and overconfident. He also said the Boeing team failed to inform the astronauts about the propellant leak that occurred during the Pad Abort Test . Ultimately, Hurley told

2310-505: The award of the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract in 2014, NASA assigned a team of four experienced astronauts, Bob Behnken , Eric Boe , Doug Hurley and Sunita Williams , to serve as consultants to engineers at both Boeing and SpaceX. These astronauts were also slated to be the test pilots on the inaugural missions. Hurley recounted a stark contrast in the working relationships between

2380-399: The capsule and service module, a 5.8 ft (1.78 m) structure called an aeroskirt is integrated into the launch vehicle adapter of Atlas V. The aeroskirt provides aerodynamic stability and dampens the shock waves that come from the front of the rocket. The spacecraft's propulsion system is produced by Aerojet Rocketdyne and consists of 64 engines: The RCS and OMAC thrusters on

2450-511: The capsule returned from space and landed successfully. During reentry one of the navigation systems dropped communication with the GPS satellites, but Steve Stich, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said this is not unexpected during reentry. The Starliner's crewed flight test was originally planned as the capsule's final test before entering regular service. This test would have involved launching two astronauts into orbit, docking with

2520-662: The capsule to the ISS. Reusable spacecraft Reusable spacecraft may be crewed or uncrewed and orbital or sub-orbital . Examples include spaceplanes such as the Space Shuttle and the Boeing X-37B , and space capsules such as the SpaceX Dragon . The Blue Origin New Shepard is an example of a sub-orbital spacecraft. On July 17, 1962, the North American X-15 , a rocket plane , reached an altitude of 95.9km on

2590-574: The capsule was revealed to the public in June 2010. The letters "CST" stand for Crew Space Transportation, while "100" likely refers to the Kármán line , which is generally considered the boundary of space at 100 kilometers (62 mi) above Earth. The design draws upon Boeing's experience with NASA's Apollo, Space Shuttle, and ISS programs, as well as the Orbital Express project. The spacecraft consists of

2660-536: The capsule. The Space Shuttle was notable for recovering the entire spacecraft. In general, around 15% of the landed weight of a vehicle is heat shielding. Thermal protection systems (TPS) can be made of a variety of materials, including reinforced carbon-carbon and ablative materials . Historically, these materials were first developed on ICBM MIRVs . However, the requirements of reusable space systems differ from those of single use reentry vehicles, especially with regards to heat shield requirements. In particular

2730-497: The contractor continued as a second commercial crew provider", and NASA and Boeing committed to six missions instead of the last four being optional. In August 2024, after the setbacks experienced during the Crew Flight Test, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated that Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg committed to continuing the Starliner program. However, financial analysts expressed skepticism that Boeing would continue to invest in

2800-485: The cost of access to space and had safety concerns following the Challenger and Columbia disasters. The SpaceX Dragon 1 first flew in 2010, and became the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to be recovered from orbit. In 2012, Dragon became the first commercial vehicle to attach to the International Space Station (ISS), after which it conducted regular cargo resupply flights for NASA. Its first reuse

2870-412: The development of SpaceShipTwo . The Blue Origin New Shepard capsule conducts commercial sub-orbital spaceflights, as did SpaceShipTwo. Development flights for SpaceX Starship test vehicles began in 2019. Starship's first integrated launch with its booster was in 2023, and it reached space the same year. In 2024, Starship successfully reentered the atmosphere and completed propulsive splashdowns in

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2940-514: The development of these new vehicles. However, unlike previous cost-plus contracts , these new contracts would be fixed-price , placing the financial risk of cost overruns on the companies themselves. Boeing has an extensive history of developing vehicles for space exploration, having built the first stage ( S-IC ) of the Saturn V rockets, assembling the Lunar Roving Vehicles , and serving as

3010-451: The entire service module and anticipated OFT-2 to occur in May 2022. The OFT-2 mission launched on May 19, 2022. It again carried Rosie the Rocketeer test dummy suited in the blue Boeing inflight spacesuit. Two Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control (OMAC) thrusters failed during the orbital insertion burn, but the spacecraft was able to compensate using the remaining OMAC thrusters with

3080-411: The first OFT did not achieve its objectives, Boeing officials said on April 6, 2020 that the Starliner crew capsule would fly a second uncrewed demonstration mission, Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2), before flying astronauts. NASA said that it had accepted a recommendation from Boeing to fly a second unpiloted mission. The Washington Post reported that the second orbital flight test, with much

3150-602: The heat shield of the Starliner, which is designed to be separated from the capsule while under parachute descent at about 5,000 ft (1,500 m) altitude. The airbags, manufactured by ILC Dover, are deployed by filling with a mixture of compressed nitrogen and oxygen gas, not with the pyro-explosive mixture sometimes used in automotive airbags . The tests were carried out in the Mojave Desert of southeast California, at ground speeds between 10 and 30 mph (16 and 48 km/h) in order to simulate crosswind conditions at

3220-456: The incident quiet, even withholding information from the astronauts involved in the project. In October 2018, the first unpiloted orbital mission was delayed to April 2019, and the first crew launch was rescheduled to August 2019. In March 2019, Reuters reported that these test flights had been delayed by at least three months, and in April 2019 Boeing announced that the unpiloted orbital mission

3290-507: The launchpad. Attempts to fix the problem while on the launchpad failed, and the rocket was returned to the ULA's VIF (Vertical Integration Facility). Attempts to fix the problem at the VIF also failed, and Boeing decided to return the spacecraft to the factory, thus cancelling the launch at that launch window. There was a commercial dispute between Boeing and Aerojet Rocketdyne over responsibility for fixing

3360-490: The mass of the spacecraft, address aerodynamics issues anticipated during launch and ascent on the Atlas ;V rocket, and meet new NASA-imposed software requirements. The Orbital Flight Test was scheduled for spring 2019. The booster for this Orbital Flight Test, an Atlas V N22 rocket, was assembled at United Launch Alliance 's (ULA) facility at Decatur, Alabama by the end of 2017. The first crewed flight ( Boe-CFT )

3430-430: The mission, Boeing vice president John Mulholland acknowledged that the company had not conducted integrated end-to-end tests for the entire mission, but had instead performed tests of smaller segments. This approach contributed to the software errors that led to the near-catastrophic failures during the flight test. Mulholland insisted that Boeing cut no corners, and that end-to-end tests were not omitted to save money. NASA

3500-444: The need for durable high emissivity coatings that can withstand multiple thermal cycles constitutes a key requirement in the development of new reusable spacecraft. Current materials for such high emissivity coatings include transition metal disilicides. Ablative heat shields are reliable, but are diminished with use and heavy. Reinforced carbon-carbon heat tiles such as those used on the Space Shuttle are fragile, contributing to

3570-524: The ocean. Starship is designed to propulsively land using its Raptor engines. It aims to be "caught" by the launch tower, as is done for the Super Heavy booster. This reduces the mass of landing infrastructure on the vehicle by eliminating the need for traditional landing legs. After a spacecraft is recovered, it may need to be refurbished before its next flight. Depending on the spacecraft design, this process may be lengthy and expensive, and there may be

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3640-689: The prime contractor for the US Orbital Segment of the ISS since 1993. With its proven track record and deep expertise, Boeing was seen as well-positioned to compete for the commercial spaceflight contracts. In 2010, Boeing unveiled its entry into NASA's Commercial Crew Program competition: the CST-100. The company received initial funding of $ 18 million in the first round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev 1) program to support Starliner's development. Additionally, United Launch Alliance,

3710-462: The problem. The valves had been corroded by intrusion of moisture, which interacted with the propellant, but the source of the moisture was not apparent. By late September 2021, Boeing had not determined the root cause of the problem, and the flight was delayed indefinitely. Through October 2021, NASA and Boeing continued to make progress and were "working toward launch opportunities in the first half of 2022", In December 2021, Boeing decided to replace

3780-435: The propellant system left four of eight valves open, leading to the release of over 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) of toxic monomethylhydrazine propellant, resulting in a fireball that engulfed the equipment. The incident was reportedly exacerbated by animosity with the propulsion system subcontractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne, who Boeing refused to pay for design changes. While it informed NASA of the incident, Boeing attempted to keep

3850-448: The rocket. Subsequently, a helium leak in the service module further delayed the mission. Another attempt on June 1 was scrubbed due to a ground computer hardware fault. Starliner successfully launched on June 5 at 14:52 UTC (10:52   am EDT). Once in orbit and on approach to the ISS during this flight test, both the automated systems and astronauts taking manual control during the docking sequence were instructed to repeatedly fire

3920-497: The same objectives as the first, was expected to launch from Cape Canaveral "sometime in October or November 2020". Boeing said that it would fund the unplanned crew capsule test flight "at no cost to the taxpayer". Boeing told investors earlier in 2020 that it was taking a US$ 410 million charge against its earnings to cover the expected costs of a second unpiloted test flight. Boeing officials said on August 25, 2020 that they set

3990-415: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Starliner . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Starliner&oldid=1003629744 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

4060-416: The service module are grouped into four "doghouses" equally spaced around the perimeter of the service module, each containing five OMAC thrusters (three aft-facing and two forward-facing ), and seven RCS thrusters: two aft-facing, two forward-facing, and one each in the radial and two tangential directions. The latter three are in a plane which is very close to the spacecraft's center of mass. To translate

4130-507: The spacecraft, thrusters are used in balanced pairs so that the center of force goes through the spacecraft's center of mass. To rotate the spacecraft, thrusters are used in unbalanced pairs so there is no net force and the net torque is centered within the spacecraft. The RCS thrusters are used for rotation (attitude control) and very fine docking maneuvers, while the OMAC thrusters are used for significant orbital adjustments. The RCS thrusters are also used to compensate for slight imbalances in

4200-416: The stage for the first Starliner demonstration mission with astronauts in mid-2021. Boeing modified the design of the Starliner docking system prior to OFT-2 to add a re-entry cover for additional protection during the capsule's fiery descent through the atmosphere. This re-entry cover is hinged, like the SpaceX design. Teams also installed the OFT-2 spacecraft's propellant heater, thermal-protection tiles, and

4270-516: The time of landing. Bigelow Aerospace built the mobile test rig and conducted the tests. In April 2012, Boeing dropped a mock-up of its Starliner over the Nevada desert at the Delamar Dry Lake , Nevada , successfully testing the craft's three main landing parachutes from 11,200 ft (3,400 m). Boeing reported in May 2016 that its test schedule would slip by eight months in order to reduce

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4340-404: The way for the pad abort test and the subsequent uncrewed and crewed flights. A pad abort test took place on November 4, 2019. The capsule accelerated away from its pad, but then one of the three parachutes failed to deploy, and the capsule landed with only two parachutes. Landing was, however, deemed safe, and the test a success. Boeing did not expect the malfunction of one parachute to affect

4410-399: Was also faulted for not pressing Boeing to conduct an end-to-end test. The subsequent NASA–Boeing investigation into the flight made scores of recommendations for Boeing and NASA. Boeing declared these to be proprietary, so the only ones publicly known are the ones that officials deliberately disclosed. In 2020, company officials said they were addressing 80 of the recommendations. Because

4480-524: Was deemed a partial failure, leading to a second Orbital Flight Test in May 2022. During the Crew Flight Test , launched in June 2024, the Starliner's thrusters malfunctioned on approach to the ISS and NASA concluded that it was too risky to return its astronauts to Earth aboard the spacecraft, which landed uncrewed in September 2024. Starliner costs more per flight than Crew Dragon, drawing criticism from NASA's inspector general and other observers. As

4550-478: Was in 2017, and the vehicle led to the development of the Dragon 2 , which first reached orbit in 2019. Dragon 2 carries both cargo and crew, and has been described as the most cost-effective spacecraft ever used by NASA. In 2021, Dragon 2 conducted the first orbital flight with only private astronauts onboard. SpaceShipOne , another rocket plane, completed the first private sub-orbital spaceflight in 2004 and led to

4620-442: Was not able to understand why the thrusters malfunctioned and decided that it was too risky to return its astronauts to Earth aboard Starliner, so it returned uncrewed. Originally planned for 2017, the launch faced numerous delays, including issues with the parachute harness and flammable tape on wiring. These delays pushed the launch back to mid-2024. A launch attempt on May 6, 2024, was scrubbed due to an oxygen valve problem on

4690-422: Was reflown in 1978. The Space Shuttle was the first orbital spacecraft designed for reuse according to NASA , and first launched in 1981. Five orbiters would launch 135 times before the vehicle's retirement in 2011. As of November 2024 , Space Shuttle Discovery holds the record for the most spaceflights by a single spacecraft at 39. The Space Shuttle program faced criticism that it failed to reduce

4760-516: Was scheduled for August 2019. In May 2019, all major hot-fire testing, including simulations of low-altitude abort-thruster testing, was completed using a full up-to-service module test article that was "flight-like," meaning that the service module test rig used in the hot-fire testing included fuel and helium tanks, reaction control system, orbital maneuvering, and attitude-control thrusters, launch abort engines and all necessary fuel lines and avionics that will be used for crewed missions. This cleared

4830-410: Was scheduled for summer 2019, pending test results from Boe-OFT . It was planned to last 14 days and carry one NASA astronaut and one Boeing test pilot to the ISS. On April 5, 2018, NASA announced that the first planned two-person flight, originally slated for November 2018, was likely to occur in 2019 or 2020. A serious incident occurred during a hot-fire test in June 2018. A design flaw in

4900-488: Was tested on the OFT-2 mission. By contrast, the reusable SpaceX Dragon 2 nosecone is hinged and protects its docking port during both launch and reentry. The capsule uses the Boeing Lightweight Ablator for its re-entry heat shield . Solar cells provided by Boeing subsidiary Spectrolab are installed onto the aft face of the service module, providing 2.9 kW of electricity. In addition to

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