NASA's partner Boeing rolls out its Starliner capsule on Star Wars day for May 19 test

Boeing has rolled out its Starliner capsule which is set to launch for a second Orbital Flight Test (OFT) on May 20. The forthcoming mission, which Boeing will conduct with NASA’s help, is the company’s chance to redeem itself after a failed mission in 2019. According to Boeing, the Starliner capsule will liftoff atop the United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas-V rocket at 4:24 am (IST) from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

In a series of videos, Boeing showcased the Starliner capsule being rolled out from NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building. The company also revealed that the mission team has performed critical tests to prepare for the second orbital flight and avoid incidents similar to the ones in 2019 and in August last year. In its first mission, Boeing had launched its spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) three years ago but the capsule failed to dock at the orbiting lab. 

The second test flight was initially scheduled for August 2021, but the engineers performing the standard tests before the launch found a malfunction in the Starliner's propulsion system.

Boeing attempts to emerge as SpaceX's competitor

If Boeing is successful in its test launch, chances are it would emerge as SpaceX's competitor for transporting cargo and crew to the space station. Currently, SpaceX is NASA's first choice when it comes to procuring launch vehicles to send astronauts into space and bringing them back. In an official statement regarding the May 20 launch, Boeing said, "The uncrewed mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V rocket from launch to docking and return to Earth at one of five designated landing zones in the western United States".

Once the uncrewed mission succeeds, NASA said that it will assemble a team of astronauts for a crewed mission to the ISS. Currently, astronauts Chris Ferguson Nicole Mann, Mike Fincke, Sunita Williams, Josh Cassada, Dr. Jeanette Epps, and Barry Wilmore are working with Boeing on the OFT-2 mission.

As for the launch vehicle, Boeing will use the 172-foot-tall Atlas-V rocket which would liftoff with 1.6 million pounds of thrust at the exact moment the space station's orbital plane crosses over the Space Launch Complex-41 pad