Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft landed safely in White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico, at 18:49 EDT on Wednesday, May 25, ending the orbital-2 (OFT-2) flight test as part of the NASA’s commercial crew program.
Starliner settled gently into his airbags after a parachute-assisted landing that helps set the stage for the crew’s future landings. The landing was followed by an orbital burn at 6:05 pm EDT, the separation of the spacecraft’s service module and the successful deployment of its three main parachutes and six air cushions.
The six-day flight served as an end-to-end test of the system’s capabilities, demonstrating its ability to launch, dock at the International Space Station, re-enter Earth’s orbit, and land. safely. The success of the OFT-2 brings the nation closer to having two unique human transport systems to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station from American soil.
The flight test began on Thursday, May 19, when Starliner launched the ULA Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Starliner docked at the orbiting lab on Friday, May 20, and the space station crew opened the Starliner hatch on Saturday, May 21. The spacecraft returned home with more than 600 pounds of cargo.
After NASA and Boeing review the data for this test flight, the teams will continue with plans for Starliner and its next mission, the flight test of the crew to the space station.