Boeing's new Starliner capsule was launched Thursday on a do-over uncrewed test flight bound for the International Space Station, aiming to deliver the company a much-needed success after more than two years of delays and costly engineering setbacks.
The gumdrop-shaped CST-100 Starliner blasted off shortly before 7 p.m. local time from the Cape Canaveral U.S. Space Force Station in Florida, soaring aloft atop an Atlas V rocket furnished by the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA).
About 30 minutes after lift-off, the Starliner reached its intended preliminary orbit, after separating from the upper-stage Atlas V rocket and flying on its own power toward a trajectory for later rendezvous with the space station.