Boeing Crew Flight Test

Pre-mission delays

The first uncrewed test, Boe-OFT, originally planned for 2017, was delayed by development problems and launched in 2019, but software errors prevented it from reaching the ISS. The second uncrewed test, Boe-OFT-2, was scrubbed in 2021 by valve problems and finally flew in 2022, meeting all objectives. In August 2023, Boeing announced the first crewed flight would be delayed to at least March 2024 due to parachute joint weakness and potentially combustible wiring harness materials.

Crew

Crew assignments changed several times after initial assignments in 2018. Nicole Mann, initially assigned, would have been the first woman on a maiden crewed orbital flight but was reassigned to SpaceX Crew-5, becoming the first female commander of a NASA Commercial Crew Program launch. Eric Boe, originally pilot, was replaced by Michael Fincke for medical reasons on January 22, 2019.

Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, originally commander, was replaced by Barry E. Wilmore on October 7, 2020, citing family reasons. On June 16, 2022, NASA confirmed the CFT mission would be a two-person flight test crewed by Wilmore and Sunita Williams, with Fincke as backup. Williams became the first woman to fly on a maiden crewed flight of an orbital spacecraft type.

Mission

The Boeing Crew Flight Test launched two astronauts aboard the third Atlas V N22 variant, marking the first crewed flight for an Atlas V rocket. This mission also represented the first time a crewed spacecraft flew on any Atlas family vehicle since Gordon Cooper’s Mercury-Atlas 9 in May 1963, and the first crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since Apollo 7 in October 1968. After docking with the International Space Station, the Starliner was scheduled to return to Earth with a ground landing in the southwestern United States.

What was planned as an eight-day mission changed when the spacecraft experienced propulsion system issues before docking. NASA extended the mission multiple times for analysis, ultimately deciding to keep the crew on the station and send Starliner back empty after three months. The astronauts later returned on SpaceX Crew-9. The uncrewed Starliner touched down at White Sands, New Mexico.

Launch

Delays began in 2023 after engineers found a parachute system problem and a flammability issue with the spacecraft’s wiring, pushing the launch to no earlier than March 2024. By November 2023, NASA said the mission was on track for an April 2024 launch, with most flammable material removed and a redesigned parachute drop-test scheduled for January 2024. That test succeeded, clearing the way for launch preparations. In February 2024, the Atlas V rocket moved into ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41.

A scheduling conflict on the ISS in March 2024 moved the launch from April 22 to early May, with a May 6 date announced in early April. Boeing finished work on Starliner inside its production facility on April 15, and the spacecraft was stacked on the rocket the next day.

The crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center on April 25, and the Flight Test Readiness Review approved the mission that same day. On May 2, the SpaceX Crew-8 Dragon relocated from the forward port of the ISS Harmony module to the zenith port to free up the forward port for CFT. After ULA’s Launch Readiness Review, the Atlas V rolled to its launch pad on May 4.

Did You Know?

• An investigation report released in February 2026 retroactively classified the mission as a Type A mishap, NASA's most severe failure category.
• Administrator Jared Isaacman said he was most troubled by failures in decision-making and leadership at both NASA and Boeing.