![Boeing's Starliner capsule lifted off Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is the first time a capsule powered by an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance has flown humans. Two NASA astronauts boarded for a day-long trip to the International Space Station. This test flight is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4444x3333+278+0/resize/1100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fca%2Fc6%2F630abc504f998326aab74da426ba%2Fgettyimages-2155283902.jpg)
Boeing's Starliner capsule lifted off Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is the first time a capsule powered by an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance has flown humans. Two NASA astronauts boarded for a day-long trip to the International Space Station. This test flight is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
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MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The third time was the charm.
Boeing's long-delayed Starliner space capsule lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying two NASA astronauts and reached orbit about 12 minutes later. The crew will race for the next 25 hours to keep up with the International Space Station.
The mission marks the first time a commercially built capsule has carried humans and is scheduled to dock with the station on Thursday at 12:15 PM ET, with astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore as commander and Sunita “Suni ” Williams serves as mission pilot.
It was the Starliner's third launch attempt. On Saturday, the countdown stopped with less than four minutes remaining. The cause was a problem with the flight computer that controlled the launch. Launch provider ULA replaced the system's power supply and cleared it for Wednesday's launch. This follows a launch attempt last month that was canceled due to a malfunctioning valve on the Centaur upper stage of the Atlas V rocket.
While fixing that problem, Boeing discovered something else: a helium leak. The gas is used in the Starliner's propulsion system. After reviewing the data, NASA was confident Boeing could successfully carry out the mission.
With all the issues resolved and the Starliner heading to the space station, this third attempt seems truly appealing. Now launched, Wilmore and Williams will make the first flight aboard Starliner ahead of NASA's operational mission. After the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011, NASA partnered with two commercial companies, Boeing and SpaceX, to transport astronauts to the space station.
But Boeing lagged behind its commercial space transportation counterpart, SpaceX, which has already flown nine missions for NASA and another four private flights. In 2019, an unmanned Starliner mission failed to reach the station due to a glitch in the flight computer code. NASA and Boeing considered the 2022 launch re-flight a success, but problems were later discovered with the capsule's parachute system.
The analysis also found that the tape used to manage hundreds of feet of cable within the spacecraft was flammable. Boeing resolved these issues and received approval for a crewed launch from NASA.
But the first attempt to launch this manned mission last month was thwarted by problems with the rocket responsible for launching the Starliner into space.
![NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Sunni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, leave the Launch Pad Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday. For both of them, this is their third trip to space.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4444x3333+278+0/resize/1100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3c%2Fbd%2Fb92e4e7f4365b1152650ea590bbe%2Fgettyimages-2155551333.jpg)
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Sunni Williams, wearing Boeing spacesuits, leave the Launch Pad Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday. For both of them, this is their third trip to space.
MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
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MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO/AFP via Getty Images/AFP
Willmore and Williams will test the Starliner's key systems as it docks with the space station, including life support and communications. Although the spacecraft is essentially capable of flying on its own, the duo will test manual control of the vehicle as it approaches an orbiting outpost.
The crew will spend about a week on the station with a planned landing under a parachute canopy on NASA's southwestern United States team, and Boeing will scrutinize data from this flight before certifying the vehicle for operational missions. NASA plans trips to the ISS about every six months, splitting astronaut flights between Boeing and SpaceX.