Boeing Starliner progress and sequence of events (CFT-1)

Starliner (Boeing)

Starliner is designed for compatiblity with Atlas V (ULA), Delta IV (ULA), and Vulcan Centaur (ULA) and Falcon 9 (SpaceX).

Functionality Crew Module (CM) CST-100

Low orbit and ISS.
Crew capacity up to 7.
Can re boost ISS (now done by Soyuz and Progress).
Parachute and airbag system.
Can land on land and or water (in case of emergency). Crew Dragon: Can land on water only. Salt water adds complexity to refurbishment.
Easy recovery.
Relatively clean vehicle when landed.
Easy path to refurbishment and re usability.
Turn around in 6 months.
Re usability 10 times.

Characteristics CST-100

439,000 lb thrust launch aboard engines.
24 x 1,500 lb thrust orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters.
28 x 100 lb thrust Reaction Control System (RCS) can reboost ISS No reboosting ISS.

CFT-1 (Crew Flight Test) 1 Characteristics

Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Boeing Starliner spacecraft (CST-100). Starliner named Calypso.
Crew Flight Test (Boe-CFT) will be the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner (CFT-1) and the third orbital flight test of the Starliner overall.

Mission: Atlas V launch with Starliner Calypso to the International Space Station.
Launch location: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Earth.
Target orbit: Low Earth Orbit; 72.91-by-181.53 kilometers 51.62 degree inclination.
Booster: AV-085.
Configuration: N22 – No fairing, 2 solid rocket motors, and 2 RL10 engines on the Centaur upper stage. “Body Guard”.
Capsule: Spacecraft 3 (Calypso); 1597d 14h 35min 21s turnaround.
Capsule history: OFT-1.
Rocket trajectory: Northeast hugging the east coast of the United States.
Mission Commander: Butch Wilmore (NASA) – 3rd spaceflight.
Mission Pilot: Sunita Williams (NASA) – 3rd spaceflight.

ULA’s 161st launch overall and its 3rd launch of the year.
Atlas V’s 100th launch, 3rd launch in N22 configuration.
ULA’s 75th launch from SLC-41, 83rd launch of Atlas V from SLC-41
3rd orbital flight of a Starliner spacecraft and 1st human spaceflight by Boeing.
This mission will bring up to 2 the total of people sent by Boeing to orbit.

CFT-1 Preparations

T-10:00:00 Launch Forecast Summary:
- - Overall probability of violating weather constraints: 5%.
  - Primary concerns: Cumulus Cloud Rule.
  - Overall probability of violating weather constraints for 24-hour delay: 5%.
  - Primary concern: None.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) uses a unique version of its Atlas V countdown for human spaceflight missions, in the name of safety, to complete hazardous fueling operations and then place the rocket in a quiescent state before the astronauts board.
The Atlas V launch countdown begins 11 hours and 20 minutes before liftoff and features a four-hour planned, built-in hold at the T-minus four-minute mark for crew ingress into Starliner.
Overseeing the start of the countdown is the “Preps Team” of console operators inside the Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center. Launch Conductor Dillon Rice will orchestrate the countdown procedures from the Launch Control Center while ULA Launch Director James Whelan is at the helm in the Mission Director’s Center. 
This initial phase of the count will be spent powering up the rocket, running system checkouts, completing standard pre-launch testing and performing final preparations on the rocket and pad systems for propellant-loading operations.
The Preps Team will lead the countdown through its first five hours, then a shift change occurs to hand each station to the “Tanking & Launch Team” of console operators. These counterparts take responsibilities for the next six hours through liftoff, led by ULA Chief Launch Conductor Doug Lebo and ULA Launch Director Tom Heter.
The shift handover happens during the planned, hour-long countdown hold at T-minus two hours. Just before the hold concludes, readiness polls are conducted to authorize the start of cryogenic tanking. With the pad cleared of all personnel, the hazardous operation of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen filling the Atlas V rocket’s stages for launch is performed.
Once fueling is completed and the rocket’s tanks placed into stable replenishment, the countdown enters the extended hold at T-minus four minutes. The Blue Team is dispatched to the pad’s 200-foot-tall (61-m) Crew Access Tower (CAT) to ready the White Room and Starliner crew module for arrival of the astronauts, assist the crew into their seats and then close the hatch for flight. 
The team is comprised of eight specialists from ULA and Boeing. Dane Drefke, ULA’s mechanical operations lead engineer serves as the Blue Team Leader (BTL). He is in charge of the Blue Team’s activities and has an obligation to ensure everyone’s safety.
ULA’s three representatives on the Blue Team begin activities by walking across the 48-foot-long (14.6-m) retractable catwalk extending from the CAT to the White Room. Their duties include verifying the White Room is safe for personnel to enter, establishing access to the capsule, deploying the environmental seal between the pad and spacecraft and setting up access platforms.
The ULA members then switch places with five Boeing technicians, waiting in the wings on the CAT, led by Boeing’s Pad Team Leader Nate Keyek-Franssen for assisting the crew into the spacecraft. 
The astronauts, commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams, receive a final weather briefing and don their spacesuits before leaving NASA’s Crew Quarters in the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center. Departure to board Boeing’s Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV) occurs about three hours and 20 minutes before launch.
The trip to SLC-41 will take about 25 minutes, with the CTV arriving at the base of the CAT approximately two hours and 55 minutes before launch. The astronauts will take the elevator to Level 12 while the CTV convoy departs the pad and heads to the safe fallback area.
Once crew ingress is completed, another weather briefing will be held 90 minutes before launch, to inform mission managers that conditions are suitable for the Blue Team to close the Starliner hatch and proceed with the countdown. Pending a go, Boeing technicians will close the hatch and perform cabin leak checks to verify the integrity of the seal.
AllianceBoeing personnel then depart the White Room so that the ULA technicians can retract access platforms and deflate the environmental seal around the spacecraft to prepare the Crew Access Arm for rotation to the launch position later in the countdown. The entire Blue Team departs the pad about 35 minutes before liftoff.
The access arm will be hydraulically swung away from the spacecraft 11 minutes prior to launch. The process will take about two minutes to reach the stowed position against the CAT. If the need arises, the arm can be redeployed in less than 15 seconds by dropping counterweights.
Seven minutes before launch, Lebo performs the readiness polling of the launch team members, Ascent Flight Director Mike Lammers in Houston and the Starliner crew before Heter gives final permission to launch. The countdown clocks resume four minutes before liftoff to put the rocket on internal power, pressurize its tanks, arm systems and start the main engine.
The daily available launch window is instantaneous, meaning there is only an instant in time each day for launch to occur. This split second happens when the orbital plane of the International Space Station passes over the launch pad, thereby enabling Atlas V to put Starliner on the proper trajectory to intercept the station for rendezvous and docking.
The main engine and twin solid rocket boosters generate 1.6 million pounds (7.1 mega-Newtons) of thrust to begin the voyage of Wilmore and Williams. The commander will call out “roll program” as Atlas V clears the tower to place the astronauts heads-up for their ride to space.
The main engine will ease back for a period of deep throttling, going into its throttle bucket during the region of maximum aerodynamic stresses on the rocket in the dense lower atmosphere and to lessen the G-loads on the crew.
The solid rocket boosters burn for a minute-and-a-half, followed by the main engine revving back to full throttle, to triple the rocket’s velocity through the remaining first stage of flight.
Just over two minutes after liftoff, Atlas V will have burned nearly 500,000 pounds (227,000 kg) of fuel and weigh only half of what it did at launch.
Following the first stage engine shutdown, the Atlas V common core booster will jettison from the Centaur four minutes and 35 seconds after liftoff. The Centaur ignites both engines 10 seconds later at an altitude of approximately 60 nautical miles (111 km).
The Centaur burn will last just over seven minutes to deliver Starliner at the desired injection point for separation at T+plus 14 minutes, 55 seconds into a 98 by 39-nautical mile (181×72-km) suborbital trajectory, inclined 51.6 degrees relative to the equator.
Atlas V will launch northeasterly from Cape Canaveral, paralleling the Eastern Seaboard and crossing the North Atlantic to accelerate Starliner to 17,475 mph (28,123 kmph).
For Starliner missions, Atlas V takes a special trajectory to space that requires the Centaur upper stage to use two engines instead of one. The double-engine configuration allows the rocket to fly a flatter trajectory and ensure the spacecraft can execute an abort at any time to bring the astronauts back to Earth safely if a problem occurs.
Dual Engine Centaur also enables the customized flight profile for Starliner that features just a single burn and a limited acceleration rate to manage the G-force experienced by the astronauts aboard. 
After Centaur releases Starliner, the spacecraft employs the same operational procedure as the space shuttle, which also launched on suborbital trajectories, by performing an orbital-maneuvering engine firing to reach a stable orbit about 15 minutes after separation.
Following separation from Atlas V, Starliner engines will burn taking it the rest of the way to orbit and on to the International Space Station. CFT is ULA’s first human launch. Liftoff will occur from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
On the shoulders of Atlas, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will soon launch two NASA astronauts on the Crew Test Flight (CFT) to the International Space Station for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
United Launch Alliance (ULA) is readying the Atlas V rocket for the historic flight test that is targeted for launch on May 6 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be the first crew members to fly aboard Starliner. Wilmore, the CFT commander, is a retired U.S. Navy captain and veteran of two previous spaceflights to the space station. Williams, serving as the CFT pilot, is also a retired Navy captain and veteran of two previous spaceflights as a long-duration resident aboard the orbiting laboratory.

CFT-1 Ascent planning

Launch Boeing Starliner CST-100 with ULA Atlas V N22.
Launch date first attempt: 06-05-2024. Scrubbed.
Launch date second attempt: NET 17-05-2024 6:16 p.m. ET (00:16 CEST)?
Launch location: USA Florida, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SLC-41 (KSC).
ISS Flight Control Room: Houston, TX.
MC: JSC.

CFT-1 Ascent sequence of events

T-hh:mm:ss
T-48:00:00 Roll-out to the pad.
T-48:00:00 Crew arrival at KSC.
T-24:00:00 RP1 rocket fueling of the first stage (non cryo).
T-11:20:00 Countdown begins.
T-10:00:00 Weather briefing.
T-04:00:00 Weather briefing.
T-03:55:00 Powering up ground systems.
T-03:50:00 Powering up launch vehicle.
T-03:50:00 Pressurization for flight.
T-03:50:00 Crew suited up in quarantine facility at KSC.
T-03:50:00 Readyness check.
T-03:45:00 Blue team (5 people from Boeing and 3 from ULA) arriving at the pad.
T-03:40:00 Weather briefing.
T-03:43:00 Seat leak check.
T-03:34:00 Com checks.
T-03:33:00 Crew card game (pre-launch tradition, slack time).
T-03:24:00 Crew walkout of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.
T-03:20:00 Crew takes Boeing Astrovan II to the launch pad. Plate RYD2SPC.
T-03:03:00 Crew arrival at the pad.
T-02:54:00 Crew up the tower. Restroom breaks. Walk through Crew Acces Arm to the White Room (clean room).
T-02:49:00 Commander enters Starliner. Settled in (takes 15-20 mins). 85 switches on the console. Com check (ATG1 and ATG2, Air To Ground. Suit grose leak check.
T-02:30:00 Pilot enters Starliner. Settled in (takes 15-20 mins). Com check. Suit grose leak check.
T-02:10:00 Visors can go up for now.
T-02:00:00 T-2 hours Hold (for one hour). Handover from “Preps Team (console operator inside Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center)” to “Tanking & Launch Team”.
T-02:00:00 Go/No Go for tanking (tanking hold). (06-05-2024 Launch scrubbed, scrubb recycle procedures started, crew egress and return to crew quarters).
T-02:00:00 Atlas V tanking (01). Cryo propellant tanking takes under 2 hours to complete.
T-01:30:00 Blue Team members of Boeing leave.
T-01:00:00 Gravity indicator secure test (seat no. 2).
T-01:00:00 Hatch Closed (02).
T-01:00:00 Cabin Leak Checks (03).
T-01:00:00 Blue Team members of ULA leave..
T-00:30:00 Tower closeout.
T-00:11:00 Crew Access Arm Retraction (CAA, 04). Takes 2 mins. Re-deploy can be done in 15 secs by using a counterweight.
T-00:07:00 Launch Director (LD) poll (see image). Clocks are set.
T-00:07:00 Go/No Go for launch.
T-00:07:00 Internal power. Clock resumes 4 minutes to put the rocket on internal power.
T-00:06:00 Terminal count.
T-00:04:00 T-4 mins Hold. Fueling completed.
T-00:01:15 Launch Abort System (LAS) activated.
T+00:00:00:00 Liftoff (05). Switch to MET
T+dd:hh:mm:ss.
T+00:00:00:12 Roll program.
T+00:00:00:40 Maximum Dynamic Pressure (Max Q)(06). Until T+00:00:00:85.
T+00:00:00:95 Solid rocket booster (SRB) burnout.
T+00:00:02:40 Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) Jettison (07).
T+00:00:04:30 Booster Engine Cutoff (BECO)
T+00:00:04:35 Booster Separation (08).
T+00:00:00:00 Ascent Cover Jettison (09).
T+00:00:04:45 Centaur Ignition (10).
T+00:00:05:00 Telemetry: Alt 121 km, Velocity 4,7 km/sec, downrange 502 km.
T+00:00:05:05 Aeroskirt Jettison (11).
T+00:00:12:00 Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) (12).
T+00:00:15:00 Spacecraft Separation (13).
T+00:00:31:00 Orbital Insertion (14). Orbital insertion maneuver by Starliner. Ascent profile complete.

CFT-1 Docking

Docking expected:
- - x
Hatch opening expected:
- - x

T+dd:hh:mm:ss Height Adjusment + Plane Change (01)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Height Adjusment + Plane Change (02)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Coelliptic Plane Change (03)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Terminal Phase Initiation Burn + Approach Ellipsoid Entry (04)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Inbound Flyaround 1 (05)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Inbound Flyaround 2 (06)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Corridor Approach (07)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss 250-Meter Hold + Resume Approach (08)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss 200-Meter Retreat + Keep Out Sphere Entry (09)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss 10-Meter Hold + Final Approach (10)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Docking (11)

CFT-1 Undocking

T+dd:hh:mm:ss Undocking (01)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Corridor Separation (02)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Outbound Flyaround (03)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Departure + Entry Cover Close (4)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Departure Resume + Approach Ellipsoid Exit (05)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Coelliptic + Thrust Alighn (06)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Deorbit (07). Four MAG thrusters for 55 seconds.
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Service Module Separation (08)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Entry Interface (09)

CFT-1 Landing

T+dd:hh:mm:ss Forward Heat Shield Jettison (01)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Drogue Parachute Deployment (02)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Main Parachute Deployment (03)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Rotation Handle Release (04)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Base Heat Shield Jettison (05)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Airbag Inflation (06)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Landing (07)
T+dd:hh:mm:ss Recovery (08)

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Back shell Starliner (Boeing)

The back shell of the Starliner space craft is covered with a composite material (porous carbon Matrix). During reentry it will heat up, break down and later release gas. The shield is light weight. (no tiles). Non-ablative heat shields dont’t break down at the same time meaning they’re easy to reuse but theay are heavier because they are thicker and they are also harder to work with. Another disadvantage is that they would lose tiles and break them all the time. To handle this Boeing uses the ablative heat shield for the main area where it gets the most heating and uses the non-ablative one on the backshell.

Back shell Crew Dragon (SpaceX)

SpaceX uses Pika X (phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (1 piece, reusable) on the Crew Dragon back shell. Additionally SpaceX uses SPAM (SpaceX Proprietary Ablative Material). After each flight Pika X and SPAM are removed and replaced.

Landing vehicles

On the edge of the landing zone is a Mobile Tracking Vehicle (MBTV).
On the edge of the landing zone is a Mobile Landing Control Center (MLCC).
On the edge of the landing zone are Recovery Vehicles (RV).

2019-2023 Starliner completed

00-09-2015 Starliner name unveiled
00-08-2016 Crew access arm installed
00-08-2016 Drop tests
00-10-2016 Engine tests
00-01-2017 Spacesuit reveal
00-03-2017 Boeing mission simulator installed
00-03-2017 Parachute drop test
00-05-2017 Seat drop tests
20-12-2019 OFT-1 (OFT1). Test objectives achieved:
- - Space to space communication.
  - Startracker alignment using Vista navication systems.
  - Extended an retrackted NASA docking system.
  - Rosie (ATD) Data collection.
  - Abort burn capability (needed for proximity operations with ISS.
19-05-2022 OFT-2 (OFT2). ULA Atlas V, SLC-41.
03-11-2022 Suited EMER SIM Operations in the Boeing Starliner spacecraft simulator at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
00-07-2023 CFT-1 Delayed. Problems with the suspension lines on Starliner’s main parachutes and much of the capsule’s wiring was wrapped with flammable tape.
18-03-2024 CFT-1 Two weeks fuel load test.
16-04-2024 CFT-1 Rollout Capsule and Service Module from Boeing’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) to ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41). There Starliner will be lifted onto the Atlas V followed by a dry run with the crew and rollout to the pad.
02-05-2024 CFT-1 In preparation for the arrival of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, four crew members aboard the International Space Station relocated the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft to a different docking port. Dragon port relocation sequence of events (ISS Harmony port 2 to ISS Harmony port 3). See SpaceX Falcon 9, Crew Dragon and Falcon Heavy sequence of events
04-05-2024 CFT-1 Rollout. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, topped with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, rolls out to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on May 4, 2024.
06-05-2024 CFT-1 Scrubbed. 10:34 p.m. (04:34 CEST) Launch. Scrubbed two hours before liftoff time. Atlas V valve issue. Buzzing liquid oxygen pressure relief velve on the upper stage. Rapidly opening and closing repeatedly. While ULA has seen the valve issue on previous uncrewed satellite launches, the flight rules for Starliner’s crewed test forbid cycling the valve to fix it with astronauts aboard. If the wonky valve needs to be replaced, the earliest Starliner could launch its Crew Flight Test mission would be Sunday, May 12, Bruno said. If not, the mission could potentially aim for Tuesday, May 7, at 10:11 p.m. ET or Friday, May 10, at 9 pm ET.
Engineers are expected to know more on the road ahead for Starliner and the Atlas V early Tuesday.
07-05-2024 CFT-1 Rollback.

2024 Starliner in progress

17-05-2025 CFT-1 Launch date second attempt: NET 17-05-2024 6:16 p.m. ET (00:16 CEST)?
00-05-2024 CFT-1 Liftoff.
00-05-2024 CFT-1 Docking ISS.
00-05-2024 CFT-1 Undocking ISS.
00-05-2024 CFT-1 Landing White Sands NM.

Footnotes

Space dashboard
Boeing Starliner
Keywords: Base heat shield, CFT1, Atlas5,