NASA is adamant we are about to enter an era of commercial-grade place travel kin to the dawn of individual air travel a century ago . It was no doubt with glee , then , that Boeingunveiledthe infrastructure that will patronise its new - named manned spacecraft : the CST-100 Starliner .
antecedently known exclusively as the CST-100 , the name fits in with Boeing ’s “ liner ” serial of vehicle , theStratolinerandDreamliner . The Apollo capsule - shaped Starliner will at last be subject of transporting four astronauts to destinations in low-pitched - Earth orbit , such as the International Space Station ( ISS ) .
The spacecraft , which is mostly automatize , will complete a first unmanned flight of stairs to orbit by 2017 at the early , establish atop a United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) Atlas V garden rocket . Manned flights will begin presently after .
" One hundred years ago we were on the dawn of the commercial aviation era and today , with the help of NASA , we ’re on the aurora of a new commercial blank epoch , " said Boeing ’s John Elbon , frailty president and worldwide coach of Space Exploration , in astatement . " It ’s been such a joy to work hand - in - hand with NASA on this commercial-grade crew development , and when we attend back 100 eld from this point , I ’m really excited about what we will have discovered . "
The Starliner is being developed as part of NASA’sCommercial Crew Program , together with SpaceX ’s Dragon capsule . The latter is further ahead in its maturation , with a pad abort examination to simulate a launchpad emergency performed earlier this year . Boeing and SpaceX were awarded $ 4.2 billion and $ 2.6 billion ( £ 2.7 billion and £ 1.7 billion ) respectively by NASA last yr to develop their manned spacecraft .
At the unveiling last Friday , Boeing also let out how it will repurpose subsist infrastructure at NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to build and operate Starliner . A heavy readiness that was once used to treat the Space Shuttle will now be the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility ( C3PF ) , while other construction will serve as Boeing ’s centers for launch and mission control .
The Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility will be used to prepare Starliner for launch . NASA / Kim Shiflett .
The Kennedy Space Center is set to get middling interfering in the come age , with SpaceX also engage from there , while NASA will expend it for launches of its Space Launch System ( SLS ) and Orion .
“ I am lofty of our winner in transform Kennedy Space Center to a 21st 100 , multi - user spaceport that is now capable of supporting the launch of all sizes and socio-economic class of vehicle , ” said Robert Cabana , Kennedy ’s inwardness director in the affirmation . He said this would include “ horizontal launches from the Shuttle Landing Facility , ” perhaps allude to the possibility of a vehicle likeVirgin Galactic’sSpaceShipTwo operating from the situation .
The first man launches of Starliner and Dragon will bring to an terminal a hiatus in U.S. manned spaceflight since the retreat of the Space Shuttle in 2011 , and end their trust on Russia ’s Soyuz spacecraft to hit range .
