The launch of two astronauts on a Boeing commercial spacecraft will mark a first for the company, but will also bring U.S. human spaceflight back to a rocket and launch site that has not been used by crews for more than 50 years.
The Crew Flight Test (CFT) for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule is ready to fly NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams on an eight-day mission to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for today (May 6) at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 GMT on May 7).
The long-awaited launch, which follows two uncrewed orbital flight tests in 2019 and 2022, respectively, will lead to the Starliner conducting regular crew rotation missions to the space station beginning next year.
To reach orbit, the Starliner will fly atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) in Florida. The pad is located less than 7 miles (11 kilometers) from where the first and last (up until now) astronauts launched on Atlas rockets.
Related: How to watch Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut launch on May 6 live online
