Boeing’s Starliner space capsule successfully returned to Earth during its second flight, landing in New Mexico.
Ukrinform, citing the Washington Post, reported that the unmanned flight test to the International Space Station (ISS) took five days.
Landed with three parachutes. The Orbital Test Flight 2 mission delivered 360 kg of miscellaneous cargo to the ISS. With a total weight of 13 tons, Starliner is designed for a crew of seven and 60 hours of autonomous flight.
The spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral on May 21. Before docking, the Starliner demonstrated its maneuverability in space. The next flight of the new spacecraft is scheduled to be manned, with Starliner delivering an international crew to the ISS.
As reported, NASA They said they plan to certify the Starliner as the second “taxi” service for their astronauts to the ISS. This role has already been successfully fulfilled by SpaceX company Ilona Maska when she flew the Dragon capsule in 2020.
Photo: Bill Ingalls / AP