The capsule carried approximately 245 kg (540 lb) of supplies and test equipment to simulate future missions with astronauts and their cargo on board.[3] Some of the cargo included flags from
historically black colleges and universities and pins of
Rosie the Riveter and 16
EMU water absorption pads.[4][5]
Starliner was loaded with 500 pounds of cargo to bring to the ISS–mostly food with some small EVA components. Astronauts unloaded this cargo and replaced it with 600 pounds of nitrogen-oxygen recharge tanks to take down. Once on the ground, the tanks were to be refurbished and then flown again.
The first flight of Starliner after the December 2019 OFT-1 flight failed to rendezvous with the station due to software problems. Boeing and NASA agreed on another uncrewed flight test of the spacecraft's systems. As part of the original fixed-price contract this flight was paid by Boeing, at an estimated out-of-pocket cost to Boeing of US$410 million.[7][8] The mission was planned to use the hardware, Starliner spacecraft, and
Atlas V originally planned for use on the
Boe-CFT crewed flight test.[9]
The second Atlas V N22,[a] designated AV-082, launched the Starliner spacecraft on its second uncrewed test flight to the
International Space Station. The capsule docked with the space station, then returned to
Earth to land in the Western United States after an orbital
shakedown cruise ahead of
Boeing Crewed Flight Test.[9]
OFT-2 was the second flight of an
Atlas V without a payload fairing and with a
dual-engine Centaurupper stage. The dual-engine Centaur uses two
RL10s and is required for Starliner flights in order to provide a launch trajectory that allows a safe abort at any point in the mission.[10]
Boeing modified the design of the Starliner docking system after the OFT-1 flight, adding a hinged re-entry cover below the expendable nosecone for additional protection during the capsule's fiery descent through the atmosphere similar to the one used in the
SpaceX Dragon 2 nosecone. This was tested on the OFT-2 mission.[11][12] This flight also marked the first time that a spacecraft with
NASA's docking system docked to the ISS, as
Dragon’s docking system was designed by SpaceX themselves.[13]
Launch delays
On 9 December 2020, NASA and Boeing announced that 29 March 2021 was the targeted launch date for the OFT-2 mission.[14][11] On 16 December 2020, Boeing officials released the official mission patch for the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission.[15][16][17] On 18 January 2021, Boeing and NASA announced that they have re-certified Starliner's spacecraft software for the OFT-2 mission.[18][11] In February 2021, the launch date shifted to 25 March 2021, then 2 April 2021, then mid April 2021. During April 2021, the launch was scheduled for August/September 2021, with an exact date to be determined.[19] In May 2021, the launch was scheduled for 30 July 2021.
Prior to the OFT-2 launch attempt, the
Crew Dragon Endeavour, which was docked to
ISS at "Harmony" forward port for its
Crew-2 mission, undocked at 10:45
UTC and relocated to "Harmony" zenith port on 21 July 2021, at 11:35 UTC.[20] The OFT-2 launch was scheduled for 30 July 2021 at 18:53:32 UTC.[21] On 27 July 2021, NASA, Boeing, and ULA completed the
flight readiness review (FRR) for the mission.
On 29 July 2021, launch preparations were under way at
Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41. The Atlas V with the Starliner atop had just been rolled out from the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to the pad. In an entirely separate mission, the
Nauka module had docked at the space station earlier that morning, but its thrusters misfired, causing serious anomalies that would make the OFT-2 docking impossible until they were corrected. The Atlas V was immediately rolled back to the VIF, and the launch time was delayed to 3 August 2021 at 17:20:18 UTC.
Atlas V was rolled out again 2 August 2021. The 3 August launch attempt was scrubbed due to technical problems with the propulsion system on Starliner causing another 24 hours recycle, with launch planned for 4 August 2021 at 16:57 UTC.[22] Due to unexpected valve position indications in the Starliner propulsion system, the launch was further delayed to later in August while engineering teams investigated the problem. As a result, the Atlas V was rolled back to the VIF again for further testing.[23] On 13 August 2021,
Boeing decided to return the spacecraft back to the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility in order to perform a deeper-level troubleshooting of the thirteen propulsion system valves, causing the launch to be delayed for another year.[1] The time needed for analysis and correction of the problem forced the launch to be delayed until the launch complex was once again available in May 2022.[24]
After completing assembly of the rocket again at
ULA's VIF, the launch took place on 19 May 2022 at 22:54 UTC, and completed the orbital insertion burn at 31 minutes into the mission. During this burn, two OMAC thrusters out of the twelve thrusters in the service module failed shortly after ignition, but the on-board flight control system switched to backup thrusters to complete the burn successfully, and Starliner reached a good orbit.[25] 26 hours and 34 minutes after the beginning of the mission, Starliner achieved soft capture on its first docking attempt.[26] 20 minutes later, the spacecraft achieved hard capture. Docking took place after a delay of about one hour, due to a need to retract and re-extend the ring clamp on its
NDS docking interface.[27] On 21 May at 16:04 UTC, the hatch was opened for the first time. On 24 May at 19:00 UTC the hatch was closed in preparation for departure. On 25 May at 18:36 UTC, Starliner undocked from the ISS and successfully landed in White Sands, New Mexico, at 22:49 UTC.[28]
Gallery
CST-100 Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V rocket roll out from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad
OFT-2 launches on an Atlas V
Starliner seen approaching the ISS
Both commercial Crew vehicles Crew Dragon and Starliner docked to ports on harmony module at the same time
Commercial Crew Program vehicles Starliner and Dragon
NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines monitor Starliner
Starliner lands in White Sands, New Mexico
Starliner after landing
See also
Crew Dragon Demo-1, SpaceX's first (uncrewed) orbital mission for its crew capsule
Notes
^
abN22 designates that the Atlas V has no payload fairing, two solid rocket boosters, and two Centaur second-stage engines.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).