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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

NASA, Boeing ready for long-delayed, high-stakes Starliner test flight [spaceflightnow.com]

Running years late, Boeing's Starliner crew capsule program is poised for a crucial unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station set for launch Thursday, a do-over of an abbreviated 2019 demo mission that has cost the aerospace contractor nearly $600 million.

The Starliner crew capsule is scheduled for liftoff on the Orbital Flight Test 2, or OFT-2 mission, from Cape Canaveral at 6:54 p.m. EDT (2254 GMT) Thursday on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

ULA, Boeing, and NASA, which oversees the Starliner commercial crew contract, gave a green light Tuesday to proceed with final launch preparations. Managers convened for a launch readiness review and gave a "go" to press on with the mission.

The review "went really well," said Steve Stich, NASA's commercial crew program manager. "It was short. It was very clean. There are really no issues that ULA, Boeing, or NASA are working for the launch coming up."

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