Nearly two and a half years after its first launch didn\u2019t go to plan, Boeing\u2019s new passenger spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, successfully launched to space this afternoon, reaching the right orbit it needed to achieve to rendezvous with the International Space Station tomorrow evening. The successful launch marks the beginning of a crucial test flight for Starliner that will play out over the next week in space, one that will help demonstrate if the capsule is capable of carrying humans to space one day.<\/p>\n

Starliner is a private spacecraft that Boeing developed in partnership with NASA, primarily to help transport the agency\u2019s astronauts to and from the International Space Station in low Earth orbit. The capsule is one of two vehicles, along with SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon, that NASA helped to fund in order to transition space transportation from the government to commercial companies. But before NASA\u2019s astronauts can ride Starliner, the space agency wants Boeing to demonstrate the capsule can perform all of the tasks of a normal spaceflight mission without a crew on board.<\/p>\n