Boeing's Starliner aims to secure NASA's presence in low Earth orbit

Space · Published 8 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Inside a former shuttle hangar, Boeing is preparing the CST-100 Starliner for its next critical phase. After a Crew Flight Test, the company is now working toward an uncrewed cargo mission to the International Space Station, a vital step in ensuring NASA has diverse transport options for astronauts.

The development of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner is a central component of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, a strategy designed to maintain a sustained human presence in low Earth orbit. To support this, NASA seeks dissimilar redundancy, ensuring multiple different spacecraft systems are available for astronaut transport. A key part of this effort involves the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) at Kennedy Space Center, a former shuttle hangar where hardware is processed.

The spacecraft's design has been informed by rigorous testing, including work on a pressure vessel used during early development. Engineers also utilized structural test articles, such as upper and lower domes, to validate the design before flight tests to the International Space Station were slated for 2017. These testing phases are essential to the certification required for crewed operations.

The contractual landscape for the Starliner has evolved since NASA originally awarded the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract in 2014. While the initial agreement included up to six crewed flights, NASA and Boeing have since modified the contract. The final schedule now comprises four missions, while two extra flights are held as options. The next milestone is the uncrewed Starliner-1 mission, targeted for no earlier than April 2026. This mission will deliver cargo and validate system upgrades implemented after the previous Crew Flight Test. Following successful certification and the Starliner-1 mission, the spacecraft is expected to fly up to three crew rotations to the orbital complex.

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