Boeing rolls out Starliner passenger spacecraft to launch site ahead of December flight

Early this morning, Boeing rolled its new passenger spacecraft, the CST-100 Starliner, out to the Florida launch site the vehicle is set to take off from next month. It’s the first time that a spaceflight-ready version of the capsule has exited the hangar.

Now the capsule will be mated on top of the rocket that will take it to space — an Atlas V manufactured by the United Launch Alliance. On December 17th, the rocket and capsule are slated to take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida — without any crew members on board — and then dock with the International Space Station. If successful, this demonstration mission could pave the way for NASA astronauts to fly on the Starliner sometime next year.

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