Kennedy Space Center

NASA Installs High Gain Antenna for Mission to Study Icy Moon of Jupiter

Image of a high-gain antenna that will be attached to NASA's Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter's icy moon. — Technicians prepare to install the nearly 10 feet (3 meters) wide dish-shaped high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 17, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

When NASA’s Europa Clipper is in orbit around Jupiter, transmitting science data and receiving commands from Earth across hundreds of millions of miles, it will need a powerful antenna. Technicians installed the spacecraft’s high-gain antenna inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 17.

Scheduled to launch later this year, Europa Clipper will embark on a 1.8-billion-mile (2.6-billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter. It is the largest spacecraft NASA has developed for a planetary mission. Set to arrive in April 2030, it will study the gas giant’s icy moon, Europa, to determine its potential to support life.

The spacecraft will conduct approximately 50 flybys of Europa, allowing its nine science instruments to gather data on the moon’s atmosphere, its ice crust, and the ocean underneath. The nearly 10-feet-wide (3-meter) dish-shaped antenna and several smaller antennas will transmit the data to Earth, a trip that will take about 45 minutes when the spacecraft is in orbit around Jupiter.

Image of high-gain antenna which will be attached to NASA's Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter's icy moon. — Technicians prepare to install the high-gain antenna to NASA’s Europa Clipper, a spacecraft to study Jupiter’s icy moon, at the agency’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 17, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

To ensure Europa Clipper has the necessary bandwidth, the antenna will operate on NASA’s deep space X-band radio frequencies of 7.2 and 8.4 (GHz), and Ka-band at 32 (GHz), through the agency’s Deep Space Network, a global array of large radio antennas that communicate with dozens of spacecraft throughout the solar system.

Europa Clipper underscores NASA’s commitment to exploring our solar system for habitable conditions beyond Earth. Although Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission, understanding Europa’s habitability will help us better understand how life developed on Earth and whether we’re likely to find conditions that might support life beyond our planet.

Technicians at NASA Kennedy will continue to prepare the spacecraft for its mission and perform final checkouts as part of launch preparations. Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Complex 39A, no earlier than October 2024.

Europa Clipper’s high-gain antenna was designed by the Johns Hopkins University APL (Applied Physics Laboratory) in Laurel, Maryland, and aerospace vendor AASC (Applied Aerospace Structures Corporation) in Stockton, California.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The main spacecraft body was designed by APL in collaboration with JPL and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

NASA, Boeing Update Starliner Crew Flight Test Return from Station

The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above the Mediterranean Sea.

Teams from NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than 10:10 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, for the undocking of the Starliner spacecraft from the International Space Station. For the primary undocking opportunity, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the first crew to fly aboard Starliner, would land about 4:51 a.m. on Wednesday, June 26, at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Mission teams supporting NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test continue to review Starliner’s data from the completed test objectives.

During a media teleconference on Tuesday, Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, discussed the flight test and upcoming return plans. Stich was joined by Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program; Mike Lammers, flight director at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; and Mark Nappi, vice president and manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program. Listen to a full replay of the teleconference.

Following undocking and the deorbit burn, Starliner will descend under parachutes to land in the desert grounds of White Sands. Airbags attached to the bottom of Starliner will soften the spacecraft’s touchdown. The landing will mark the first time an American capsule has touched down on land with astronauts aboard. A team of NASA and Boeing specialists will retrieve the crew soon after landing.

Wilmore and Williams docked the Starliner spacecraft to the space station’s forward port on June 6 and have been testing spacecraft systems and performing tasks aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Get the latest mission updates by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

Advanced Weather Satellite Moves Closer to Launch

Crews transport NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) from the Astrotech Space Operations facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning on Friday, June 14, 2024, with the operation finishing early Saturday, June 15, 2024. The fourth and final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series will assist meteorologists in providing advanced weather forecasting and warning capabilities. The two-hour window for liftoff opens 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. — Crews transport NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) from the Astrotech Space Operations facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning on Friday, June 14, 2024, with the operation finishing early Saturday, June 15, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U) has now passed several important milestones ahead of its upcoming launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Technicians prepare NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) for encapsulation inside payload fairing halves on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The fourth and final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series will assist meteorologists in providing advanced weather forecasting and warning capabilities. The two-hour window for liftoff opens 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. — Technicians prepare NOAA’s GOES-U for encapsulation inside payload fairing halves on Thursday, June 13, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Technicians at Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida lifted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U satellite onto the payload adapter and the payload attach fitting on June 10, enabling GOES-U to securely attach to the top of its Falcon Heavy rocket.

This milestone follows recent fueling operations where teams loaded over 5,000 pounds of hypergolic propellant and oxidizer into the satellite, which will be used to provide it with thrust in orbit. The GOES-U satellite now weighs a total of 10,956 pounds.

Teams next encapsulated the 20-foot-tall satellite inside two payload fairing halves in preparation for connecting it to the rocket on June 13.

During the ascent phase of the launch, the fairing halves will protect GOES-U from aerodynamic pressure and heating. Once GOES-U no longer requires this protection, approximately four minutes after liftoff, the halves will be jettisoned and return to Earth, where SpaceX crews will recover them for use on future missions.

After encapsulation, workers transported the spacecraft from Astrotech’s facility to NASA Kennedy and SpaceX’s hangar at the spaceport’s Launch Complex 39A, on June 15.

The next mission milestone includes connecting the encapsulated GOES-U to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket ahead of rolling the stack out to the launch pad.

NASA is targeting a two-hour window opening at 5:16 p.m. EDT on June 25, for the launch of GOES-U aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA Kennedy. Following launch, the spacecraft will complete a nearly three-week journey to its destination in geostationary orbit 22,236 miles above the equator, allowing the satellites to continually view the Western Hemisphere.

As the fourth and final satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series, GOES-U will enhance meteorologists’ ability to provide advanced weather forecasting and warning capabilities. GOES-U also will improve detection and monitoring of space weather hazards using a new compact coronagraph instrument.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the GOES-U mission. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception.

Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission updates, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:

X: @NASA, @NASA_LSP, @NASAKennedy, @NOAASatellites, @NASAGoddard
Facebook: NASA, NASA LSP, NASA Kennedy, NOAA Satellites, NASA Goddard
Instagram: NASA, NASA Kennedy, NOAA Satellites

NASA, Boeing Target June 22 for Flight Crew Test Return

This view from a window on the cupola overlooks a portion of the International Space and shows the partially obscured Starliner spacecraft from Boeing docked to the Harmony module's forward port. — This view from a window on the cupola overlooks a portion of the International Space and shows the partially obscured Starliner spacecraft from Boeing docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. Photo credit: NASA

NASA and Boeing now are targeting no earlier than Saturday, June 22, to return the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission from the International Space Station. The extra time allows the team to finalize departure planning and operations while the spacecraft remains cleared for crew emergency return scenarios within the flight rules.

NASA and Boeing leadership will discuss the details of the new return target, flight status, and weather considerations for landing during a pre-departure media teleconference at 12 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 18. NASA will provide additional media teleconference details soon.

“We are continuing to understand the capabilities of Starliner to prepare for the long-term goal of having it perform a six-month docked mission at the space station,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “The crew will perform additional hatch operations to better understand its handling, repeat some ‘safe haven’ testing and assess piloting using the forward window.”

NASA and Boeing teams also prepared plans for Starliner to fire seven of its eight aft-facing thrusters while docked to the station to evaluate thruster performance for the remainder of the mission. Known as a “hot fire test,” the process will see two bursts of the thrusters, totaling about a second, as part of a pathfinder process to evaluate how the spacecraft will perform during future operational missions after being docked to the space station for six months. The crew also will investigate cabin air temperature readings across the cabin to correlate to the life support system temperature measurements.

“We have an incredible opportunity to spend more time at station and perform more tests which provides invaluable data unique to our position,” said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing. “As the integrated NASA and Boeing teams have said each step of the way, we have plenty of margin and time on station to maximize the opportunity for all partners to learn – including our crew.”

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who are serving as Starliner’s crew for the mission, arrived at the International Space Station on June 6. They’ve completed numerous flight objectives required for NASA certification of Boeing’s transportation system for flights to the orbiting laboratory under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

Over the past three days, Wilmore and Williams have performed tasks as part of the space station team, including installing research equipment, maintaining the lab’s hardware, and helping station crewmembers Matt Dominick and Tracy Dyson prepare for a spacewalk. After NASA called off Thursday’s spacewalk, Williams worked to help the crew out of their spacesuits.

Engineering teams continue to increase their understanding of previous observations from Starliner propulsion systems on the spacecraft’s service module.

Pending spacecraft return readiness and acceptable weather conditions, Starliner will undock from the space station for a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the southwestern United States. Get the latest mission updates by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA, Boeing Progress on Testing Starliner with Crew at Space Station

The Starliner spacecraft on NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test approaches the International Space Station. — The Starliner spacecraft on NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test approaches the International Space Station while orbiting 263 miles above Quebec, Canada. NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard Starliner docked to the orbital outpost’s forward port on the Harmony module at 1:34 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 6. Photo credit: NASA

Orbiting Earth as part of the nine-person crew of the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams continue testing Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft as part of its first flight with astronauts. The testing is part of the data collection on the Starliner system for certification by NASA for regular crewed mission to the orbital complex.

As part of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, Wilmore and Williams, along with teams on the ground, are stepping through numerous flight objectives following arrival of Starliner to the space station on June 6, including:

Powering the spacecraft down into a minimal power mode, which it will enter during operational missions while the crew works aboard station, and then powering it up again;
Conducting “safe haven” checks to show the spacecraft can support a crew with its own air and consumables during in an emergency on the station;
Performing a habitability study, along with astronauts Tracy Dyson and Matthew Dominick, to evaluate seating positions and other factors, such as air circulation for a four-person crew;
Evaluating spacesuit and seat-fits, as well as checkouts of the service module’s batteries.

Meanwhile, ground teams continue to assess and monitor Starliner’s performance and planning for return of the mission no earlier than Tuesday, June 18, pending weather and spacecraft readiness. Starliner is cleared for crew emergency return scenarios from space station, if needed, in accordance with the flight rules.

While Starliner remains docked to station, ground teams are continuing to evaluate propulsion system in-flight observations.

“Butch and Suni are doing great aboard station as ground teams continue digging into the details of Starliner’s on-orbit, rendezvous, and docked performance,” said Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “We expected to do a lot of valuable learning on this test flight, and I am extremely proud of how the NASA and Boeing teams are working together to ensure we can safely execute the return portion of the mission.”

One of Starliner’s aft-facing reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, capable of about 85 pounds of thrust, remains de-selected as teams continue to evaluate its performance. Ground teams plan to fire all 28 RCS thrusters after undocking to collect additional data signatures on the service module thrusters before the hardware is expended. As part of normal operations, the service module separates from crew module on return, so NASA and Boeing will gather as much data as possible to aid in system assessments.

Teams currently are assessing what impacts, if any, five small leaks in the service module helium manifolds would have on the remainder of the mission. Engineers evaluated the helium supply based on current leak rates and determined that Starliner has plenty of margin to support the return trip from station. Only seven hours of free-flight time is needed to perform a normal end of mission, and Starliner currently has enough helium left in its tanks to support 70 hours of free flight activity following undocking. While Starliner is docked, all the manifolds are closed per normal mission operations preventing helium loss from the tanks.

Engineers also are evaluating an RCS oxidizer isolation valve in the service module that is not properly closed. Ground teams performed a successful propulsion system valve checkout on Sunday. All other oxidizer and fuel valves within the service module were cycled normally. The suspect oxidizer isolation valve was not cycled in the recent checkout. It will remain commanded closed for the remainder of the mission while ground teams continue to evaluate its data signatures. The crew module propulsion valves, which are part of an independent system that steers the capsule in the last phase of flight before landing, also were successfully cycled, and all those valves are performing as designed.

Mission managers are continuing to work through the return plan, which includes assessments of flight rationale, fault tolerance, and potential operational mitigations for the remainder of the flight. NASA and Boeing will hold a pre-departure media teleconference to provide additional updates before Starliner undocks from station.

With launch and docking already completed, the last remaining dynamic phase of the mission will come at the end of the flight test when Starliner will undock from the orbiting laboratory and then adjust its orbit to move away from the space station. The spacecraft, with Wilmore and Williams aboard, will perform a deorbit burn before entering the atmosphere and landing in the southwestern United States under parachutes and landing airbags to complete the flight.

As part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, the mission is the first crewed flight for the Starliner spacecraft. Learn more about the mission by following the commercial crew blog , @commercial_crew on X, and commercial crew on Facebook.

NASA Hosts Prelaunch Media Viewing of NOAA’s GOES-U

Members of the news media had an opportunity for an up-close look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U) on Thursday, June 6, 2024, inside the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Journalists visited Astrotech as part of a NASA-hosted media day to conduct interviews and photograph the satellite that is the final addition to NOAA’s GOES-R satellite series, which serve a critical role in providing continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. — Members of the news media had an opportunity for an up-close look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U) on Thursday, June 6, 2024, inside the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) stands vertical on a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, June 6, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

NASA hosted members of the media to view the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U), on June 6, at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Subject matter experts from NASA, NOAA, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris Technologies provided a mission overview and answered questions about the satellite’s capabilities to assist meteorologists with predicting, observing, and tracking hazardous weather events on Earth and in space.

The opportunity provided media with a last look at the final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series before technicians prepare it for launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

The satellite will carry a suite of instruments for advanced imagery, atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting approaching space weather hazards. The satellite also includes a new compact coronagraph that will image the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections.

The two-hour launch window for GOES-U opens at 5:16 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 25, from Launch Complex 39A at the Florida spaceport.

Boeing’s Starliner Approaching Station Live on NASA TV

Boeing's Starliner crew ship approaches the space station during the company's uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 mission on May 20, 2022. — Boeing’s Starliner crew ship approaches the space station during the company’s uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 mission on May 20, 2022.

NASA’s arrival coverage of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station is now underway on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Docking is scheduled at approximately 12:15 p.m. EDT Thursday, June 6.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched safely on the Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 10:52 a.m. June 5 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The Starliner crew continues to make their way to the space station. During flight, Wilmore and Williams successfully performed manual piloting demonstrations of Starliner and completed a sleep period. Prior to crew sleep, mission teams identified three helium leaks in the spacecraft. One of these was previously discussed before flight along with a management plan, and the other two are new since the spacecraft arrived in orbit. To monitor and manage these leaks, the three helium manifolds were isolated. Those manifolds have all been reopened prior to a Starliner height adjust burn, called NHPC. All affected manifolds will remain open for rendezvous and docking operations.

Following in-flight reviews of the mission and helium leaks, the Starliner and International Space Station mission management teams are “go” to proceed with space station arrival. The flight control team will continue to monitor the leak rates in Starliner’s propulsion system. After docking, all of Starliner manifolds will be closed per normal plans. All other Starliner systems are functioning normally.

NASA’s arrival and in-flight event coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):

12:15 p.m. – Targeted docking

2 p.m. – Hatch opening

2:20 p.m. – Welcome remarks

3:30 p.m. – Post-docking news conference at NASA Johnson with the following participants:

NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Jeff Arend, manager for systems engineering and integration, NASA’s International Space Station Office
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing

Coverage of the post-docking news conference will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

To attend the post-docking briefing, U.S. media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov or 281-483-5111 by 1 p.m. June 6. To join by phone, media must contact the NASA Johnson newsroom by 3 p.m. June 6.

5:50 p.m. – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Associate Administrator Jim Free, Associate Administrator for Space Operations Ken Bowersox, and Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche will speak with Wilmore and Williams about their launch aboard the Starliner spacecraft.

Coverage of the Earth to space call will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on X, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly updates from NASA Johnson Space Center at: https://roundupreads.jsc.nasa.gov/

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NASA to Host Postlaunch News Conference at 12:30 p.m. EDT, Starliner Headed to Station

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a Boeing Starliner spacecraft launches NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station!

The capsule, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, commander, and Suni Williams, pilot, is expected to reach the orbiting laboratory at 12:15 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 6.

A postlaunch news conference will be held at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. with the following participants:

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate
Steve Stich, manager, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager, Commercial Crew Program, Boeing
Tory Bruno, president and CEO, ULA

Coverage of the postlaunch news conference will air live on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website.

Once the postlaunch news conference is complete, NASA+ coverage will end, and mission coverage will continue on both NASA channels. NASA+ coverage will resume at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, June 6, as Starliner approaches the space station for a docking to the forward-facing port of the Harmony module.

NASA Astronauts, Starliner Inch Closer to Space Station

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket booster separates from the Centaur upper stage carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Photo credit: NASA Television

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket booster has separated from the Centaur upper stage carrying Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. The Centaur will continue to help propel Boeing’s Starliner to a suborbit before the spacecraft boosts itself to orbit, bringing it closer to the International Space Station.

Measuring 10 feet in diameter and 41.5 feet in length, the Centaur upper stage uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to power its twin Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A-4-2 engines. The burn of the Centaur’s dual engines is expected to last a little more than seven minutes before engine cutoff and separation from Starliner. Following separation, the crew capsule carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be on its own for the remainder of the journey to the space station.

Following its separation, the Atlas Centaur will land in the ocean near Australia.

NASA Television will provide continuous coverage leading up to docking at the space station and through hatch opening and welcome remarks.

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test ULA Rocket Reaches Max Q

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying Boeing’s Starliner capsule with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams has reached Max Q. The milestone is the moment of peak aerodynamic pressure on the rocket.

Following Max Q will be Atlas V booster engine cutoff and separation.