Rival companies Boeing and SpaceX are gearing up for a busy week, with each set to launch their rockets and spacecraft on crucial test flights.Boeing on Wednesday will try for the third time to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station aboard its Starliner capsule. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:52 a.m. ET from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.The next day, SpaceX will conduct a fourth, uncrewed test flight of its Starship megarocket. Thursday’s launch will occur at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, with a target launch window that opens at 8 a.m. ET.The two companies are seen as spaceflight competitors, but the launches this week have different goals. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was developed in partnership with NASA, to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station — a commercial service that SpaceX has already been performing for the agency since 2020.Boeing’s third attempt to launch astronauts to spaceIf Boeing’s first crewed test flight is successful, it would pave the way for the Starliner capsule to conduct routine flights to the space station for NASA, challenging SpaceX’s dominance.Onboard the Starliner will be NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who plan to spend about a week at the space station before returning to Earth and touching down at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range. Butch Wilmore left, and Suni Williams wearing Boeing spacesuits, smile as they prepare to depart th …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnRival companies Boeing and SpaceX are gearing up for a busy week, with each set to launch their rockets and spacecraft on crucial test flights.Boeing on Wednesday will try for the third time to launch two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station aboard its Starliner capsule. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:52 a.m. ET from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.The next day, SpaceX will conduct a fourth, uncrewed test flight of its Starship megarocket. Thursday’s launch will occur at SpaceX’s Starbase test site in Boca Chica, Texas, with a target launch window that opens at 8 a.m. ET.The two companies are seen as spaceflight competitors, but the launches this week have different goals. Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft was developed in partnership with NASA, to ferry its astronauts to and from the space station — a commercial service that SpaceX has already been performing for the agency since 2020.Boeing’s third attempt to launch astronauts to spaceIf Boeing’s first crewed test flight is successful, it would pave the way for the Starliner capsule to conduct routine flights to the space station for NASA, challenging SpaceX’s dominance.Onboard the Starliner will be NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who plan to spend about a week at the space station before returning to Earth and touching down at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range. Butch Wilmore left, and Suni Williams wearing Boeing spacesuits, smile as they prepare to depart th …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
