On May 16, NASA and Boeing have scheduled the second unmanned orbital test flight of the starplane spacecraft on May 19 local time, and hope to realize the first manned flight before the end of 2022. The "starplane" spacecraft will take off on the Atlas V carrier rocket of the United Launch Alliance (ULA). This will be its second key orbital test flight and try to dock with the international space station. It is also a key step for NASA to certify the manned capability of Boeing spacecraft.
Boeing conducted its first unmanned orbital mission to the starplane spacecraft in December 2019, but due to software failure, the spacecraft failed to reach the orbit required to reach the international space station and failed to achieve the expected goal.
In early August 2021, Boeing was ready to try again, but the pre flight inspection a few hours before liftoff found that more than half of the oxidant valves in the propulsion system of the "starplane" spacecraft had problems, and the launch was cancelled. The spacecraft was then disassembled from Atlas V and returned to Boeing for maintenance.
Now, with the oxidant valve problem finally solved, the starplane spacecraft is ready to be sent to the launch pad again. NASA very much hopes that the second orbital test flight will be successful in order to start sending more astronauts to the international space station.
Over the past decade, NASA has always relied on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to send personnel or supplies to the international space station. The situation has not eased until recently after the SpaceX manned dragon spacecraft was put into use. The company launched its fourth crew of astronauts to the international space station last month.
In 2014, NASA signed contracts with SpaceX and Boeing to help the agency design and develop spacecraft to send astronauts to the international space station. The final certification of the starplane spacecraft will fully achieve NASA's goal of the commercial astronaut program and allow it to reduce its dependence on a single manned space launch provider.
NASA said that in the second unmanned orbit test mission, the "starplane" spacecraft will dock with the international space station for 5 to 10 days, then return to earth and land in the western United States. If the mission is successful, NASA and Boeing hope to make their first manned flight by the end of 2022.
According to the plan, about one day after the launch, the "starplane" spacecraft will dock with the front port of the node module of the international space station "harmony", transporting more than 180 kilograms of food and other supplies for the astronauts currently stationed on it.
NASA said that before the countdown to the launch of the starplane spacecraft, if there are any technical problems or weather problems, the launch can be delayed backward because there is a backup launch window on May 20.