Starliner’s Stellar Liftoff: NASA Astronauts Embark on Historic Journey to ISS

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a Boeing Starliner spacecraft launches NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Credit: NASA Television

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, launched carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station.

We have liftoff! A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, are on a course to the International Space Station (ISS).

The crew is on a roughly 25.5-hour journey with rendezvous and docking expected at 12:15 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 6.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket booster separates from the Centaur upper stage carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Credit: NASA Television

The crew flight test mission makes history in several ways. As the first crewed launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, Williams is the first female astronaut to fly on the first flight of a crewed spacecraft. The launch also marks the first crewed launch on the ULA Atlas V rocket and the first crewed launch on an Atlas-family class rocket since Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury program flight aboard “Faith 7” in May 1963.

Next up is Max Q, or the moment of peak aerodynamic pressure on the rocket.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket soars from the pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 a.m. ET Wednesday, June 5, 2024, carrying a Boeing Starliner spacecraft for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Television

Launch coverage on NASA+ will end shortly after Starliner orbital insertion, happening about 30 minutes from now. NASA Television will provide continuous coverage leading up to docking at the space station and through hatch opening and welcome remarks.

At 10:52 a.m. EDT, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, launched from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Credit: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center