Boeing’s cargo-laden Starliner nears departure from ISS on May 26; eyes mission completion

The Starliner capsule, which was launched by Boeing Space last week under the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission, is readying for its departure from the International Space Station (ISS) scheduled on May 26. The spacecraft successfully docked at the space station on May 21, completing the step which was the cause of failure of its first mission in 2019. In the latest mission update, NASA said that the capsule will return in a couple of days for a desert landing in the western United States. Recently, the mission teams from both NASA and Boeing conducted rehearsals to prepare for the landing that will take place in New Mexico. 

NASA prepares to air the undocking

The uncrewed Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to autonomously undock from the space station at 12:06 am (IST) on May 26 before beginning its journey back to Earth. NASA and Boeing are targeting 4:19 am when the capsule will parachute down to the New Mexico desert, concluding the six-day-long test flight. The capsule had arrived at the space station with around 362 kilograms of cargo supplies for the astronauts and will return with 272 kilograms of cargo. 

The White Sands Space Harbor at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico is the primary landing site. The coverage for the undocking will begin at 12:06 am on NASA's official website, NASA TV, NASA app and the agency's official YouTube channel. 

What is the OFT-2 mission?

The OFT-2 mission was launched with the aim to test the end-to-end capabilities of Starliner from launch to docking, atmospheric re-entry, and a desert landing. This mission is Boeing's second shot at a NASA license after the first one in 2019 failed because the Starliner failed to dock at the ISS. Boeing is one of the two companies apart from SpaceX that won a NASA contract to develop spacecraft for launching cargo and crew to and from the space station. While SpaceX won NASA's approval for crew-cargo launches by proving itself in 2020 through the Demonstration-2 (Demo-2) mission, Boeing still doesn't have a license for such missions.