US Boeing's Developed Spacecraft 'Starliner' Successfully Achieves Target Orbit Insertion

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The spacecraft 'Starliner,' developed by the American company Boeing, successfully reached its target orbit after a test launch. If the entire test launch process of the spacecraft is completed successfully, it is expected that the competition in the space transportation business will intensify alongside SpaceX.

According to CNN on the 19th (local time), the Starliner spacecraft was launched at around 6:55 PM local time from the 41st Space Launch Squadron at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, aboard an Atlas V rocket. It is reported that it successfully reached the target orbit about 31 minutes later. This test launch was conducted as an unmanned test flight.

The official name of this test launch is 'Orbital Flight Test-2' (OFT-2), which took place about 2 years and 4 months after the first orbital flight test in December 2019. During the first test, Starliner reached low Earth orbit but had to abandon docking with the ISS due to equipment and software errors and returned to Earth. Since then, the client, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), demanded 80 improvements, and the second test flight was continuously delayed due to the implementation of these improvements and correction of technical errors.

With the success of this test launch, it is expected that a dual competitive system between SpaceX and Boeing will be established in the space transportation sector. SpaceX's competitor, Crew Dragon, succeeded in an unmanned test flight on its first attempt in March 2019, followed by a manned test flight in May the following year, and received NASA certification to provide manned transportation services to the ISS. Crew Dragon has safely conducted a total of seven manned flights, including two flights carrying private space tourists who were not NASA astronauts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.