The Boeing Starliner is a new, safe and cost-effective commercial spacecraft designed to shuttle customers to and from destinations like the International Space Station and is preparing for flight tests later this year.

“Today, the Vice President had a chance to see first-hand why Boeing is the leader in human spaceflight,” said Leanne Caret president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

The Starliner will be America’s only human-rated reusable spacecraft thanks to its unique ability to land on land.

Read more about Boeing’s Starliner.

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Today, I’m part of the Boeing team that is designing and building a state-of-the-art spacecraft, the Starliner, which will safely, reliably and affordably deliver astronauts to the International Space Station from American soil once again.

The Starliner’s first test launches are targeted for later this year, first without a crew and then with a two-person crew. Once our testing has proven the safety and reliability of the Starliner, we’ll begin more regular missions to the space station. The space station is an incredible orbiting laboratory that benefits life on Earth and sets the foundation for extending human presence deeper into space.

For the first time since the last NASA space shuttle launch in 2011, the U.S. will be able to send American astronauts into space from U.S. soil and we’ll bring home that American flag we left up there several years ago.

The Starliner will certainly be something to watch in 2018.

Read more about the 21st century space capsule that will reignite human spaceflight this year.

Best,
Chris Ferguson
Boeing Director of Starliner Crew and Mission Systems

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Here are nine reasons why the Starliner will be something to watch in 2018:

1. The Starliner will lead in space exploration.

The first flight of the space capsule will be a major milestone in the return of human spaceflight for America. The last time humans lifted off from American soil was in 2011, and being able to transport crews safely, reliably and affordably is strategically important for the United States to remain the global leader in space exploration.

2. It will reignite the industry.

While final assembly and launches of the space capsule will take place in Florida, there are production, integration and test activities happening right now all across America. Boeing is breathing new life into the aerospace industry, and the Starliner’s economic impact can be seen across the U.S. with more than 400 supplier companies in 38 states.

3. It will enhance space research.

The Starliner will allow additional astronauts to work aboard the International Space Station conducting research across many scientific disciplines. With a full crew of seven astronauts aboard the station, plus the space capsule’s capability to bring 220 pounds of equipment and cargo to the station, the orbiting laboratory will greatly increase its ability to perform experiments on new technologies and help find potential cures for diseases.

4. The Starliner will launch atop America’s most reliable rocket.

Boeing designed the Starliner to be compatible with a variety of rockets and selected the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V to launch the initial test flights and missions. The Atlas V has unmatched past performance and unparalleled schedule assurance. With more than 70 launches at 100 percent mission success, the Atlas V rocket provides Boeing and NASA a wealth of data to glean from for human certification.

5. The Starliner will mark many firsts.

For the first time in history, a space capsule built in the U.S. will be certified to land on solid ground rather than in the ocean. The Starliner features parachutes and an airbag landing system that will absorb the shock of impact with the ground while protecting the crew members inside. The Starliner also can be reused as many as 10 times — another first for a space capsule — thanks to a weldless pressurized crew cabin. This will reduce manufacturing costs by extending the life of the spacecraft.

6. It incorporates cutting-edge technology.

The Starliner features its own spacesuits, modern displays, tablets, 3D printed parts and wireless internet. For example, the award-winning “Boeing Blue” spacesuit is 40 percent lighter than older spacesuit models. With enhanced mobility, innovative layers to keep astronauts cool and touchscreen-friendly gloves, this suit is tailor-made for the Starliner.

7. It can be configured for crew or cargo.

The Starliner was designed to accommodate as many as seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo. For NASA missions to the International Space Station, the spacecraft will carry as many as five passengers — four NASA astronauts with room for a fifth paying passenger. This flexibility allows for a variety of missions to destinations in low-Earth orbit.

8. The Starliner can fly itself.

From launch to landing, the Starliner will fly completely on its own. Autonomous flight, including rendezvous and docking, is the next logical step for human spaceflight, allowing the spacecraft’s crew members, ground and mission teams and space station crew to focus on other tasks, such as performing groundbreaking research.

9. The Starliner makes space more accessible than ever before.

NASA is Boeing’s flagship customer for the Starliner, beginning with missions to and from the International Space Station and carrying NASA and NASA-sponsored astronauts. As new opportunities, new destinations and new markets emerge in low-Earth orbit, the Starliner will transport a variety of passengers, including international and corporate astronauts, scientists, researchers, educators and even tourists.

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Remarkably, the basic building block is a rechargeable individual cell that is slightly larger than an AA battery commonly used in a small flashlight. With more than 5,000 of these cells housed in a dozen battery assemblies, the Starliner packs a lot of power into a small system to maximize efficiency.

Key features of what the team calls the “Battery Management System” include safety elements built into the battery modules and cells. The layers of safety begin with the individual cells and progress within the battery’s subcores. Each battery then reports performance data to the Starliner’s computers where the overall health of the system is monitored and controlled.

Innovative features, like this battery system, are helping lay the groundwork for safe, reliable and affordable spaceflight to ensure NASA and the United States remain a leader in space exploration.

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The goal of the landing airbag system is to protect passengers, and the spacecraft itself, as it touches down on solid ground. Through extensive drop testing at NASA’s Langley Research Center, the team is proving the system will do both.

The Starliner’s airbags resemble larger versions of automobile airbags, and contain a similar mixture of compressed nitrogen and oxygen gas. The key difference is how they handle loads upon impact – dissipating thousands of pounds versus the mass of passengers in a car.

Every Starliner spacecraft has six landing airbags, each with an inner and outer airbag. Upon landing, the outer bags vent while the inner bags absorb the impact and stay inflated. There is a seventh airbag in the spacecraft’s center, only to be used in an emergency water-landing scenario.

American-built capsules of the past have parachuted into the ocean, making them impossible to reuse due to the corrosion effects of salt water. The Starliner’s landing capabilities will make the goal of reusability a reality.

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The Starliner houses a single propulsion system that supports all the spacecraft’s propulsion needs from ascent until deorbit burn after its departure from the space station. System capabilities will include maneuvering in space, or contingency abort scenarios, a feature that distinguishes Starliner from its Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle predecessors.

The testing campaign will consist of simulated propellant flow rates for all mission scenarios; a fuel-loading demonstration; and hot fire tests that will include orbital maneuvers like docking with the space station, abort scenarios, and re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

The test module is one of three Starliner qualification test vehicles, including the structural test article, which is undergoing lab tests in Huntington Beach, Calif., and Spacecraft 1, which will be ground-tested before flying a simulated abort from a launch pad over the New Mexico desert.

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It will be all business as they focus on the data coming off a console originally imagined and designed by a team in Houston, and later refined and built by a small team in Mesa, Ariz. The dashboard of displays, instruments and controls will be within arm’s reach of the spacecraft’s commander and pilot, much like the flight deck of a 747 aircraft or the cockpit in an Apache helicopter.

Operating on a rigorous timeline and working through challenges unique to human spaceflight, members of Mesa’s Metals Center of Excellence, Electrical Center of Excellence and engineering organization came together to complete the design and manufacture in just less than a year. This innovation shows the power of pulling ingenuity from across the Boeing network.

The Mesa team also built a console that is hooked up to the Florida Systems Integration Lab, where engineers are running through mission simulations and testing flight software. Building will begin soon on the third and final console for the spacecraft that is slated to fly the uncrewed orbital demonstration mission before it turns around for multiple NASA missions to the space station.

Starliner’s first crew flight test to the International Space Station in 2018 will be Boeing’s first commercial flight transporting humans to space.

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Testing to the extreme using test dummies, seat drop tests proved the systems will effectively cushion the passenger’s head, neck and spine upon landing. Engineers performed 30 drop tests from various heights and seat orientations. Parachutes and an airbag system will initially slow Starliner when it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere. Starliner is being developed in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It will take astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station. The first launch is slated for next year.

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Throughout this power-on phase, engineers in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will be testing the Starliner’s complicated cable routing, which must remain secure in harsh environments including launch, landing and zero-gravity flight. Engineers will ensure that computers can communicate with each other between the upper and lower sections of the spacecraft before they are mated together later this year. While this spacecraft isn’t lined up to fly to space, it will be used for ground testing in the C3PF before going on to White Sands, New Mexico, for a Pad Abort Test early next year.

Stay tuned for more milestones leading up to the spacecraft’s first crew flight test to the International Space Station in 2018.

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