NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will make a third attempt to launch Boeing's CST-100 Starliner on its first-ever human spaceflight. The launch is scheduled for 10:52 a.m. on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The astronauts have already suited up and boarded the spacecraft twice in the last month. A May 6 attempt was scrubbed due to a fluttering valve on the ULA rocket's upper Centaur stage, and the most recent attempt was halted within four minutes of liftoff due to a computer issue.
The Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron forecasts a 90% chance of favorable conditions for the upcoming launch, increasing the likelihood of a successful liftoff.
Teams have replaced the faulty launch computer hardware and resolved the previous Centaur stage valve issue. Boeing and NASA have also decided not to fix a small helium leak on Starliner's propulsion module aiter assessing its safety.
If the launch proceeds, Wilmore and Williams will spend over 24 hours traveling to the International Space Station (ISS). They will stay on the ISs for about eight days, testing manual control overrides and other features of the mostly automated spacecraft.
Dubbed the Crew Flight Test, this mission is the final requirement for Boeing under NASA's Commercial Crew Program to achieve certification. Successful completion will pave the way for regular rotational missions to the ISS, sharing duties with Spacex.
The flight comes over four years after SpaceX's Crew Dragon made its first crewed flight to the ISS. Since then, Crew Dragon has flown 13 times, carrying 50 humans to space, including the current Crew-8 on the ISS.
ISS crew members Jeanette Epps and Tracy Dyson have expressed their support for Wilmore and Williams, eagerly anticipating their arrival. The astronauts have sent messages of encouragement, looking forward to welcoming the Starliner crew aboard the ISS.