Boeing’s long-delayed Starliner capsule has finally docked with the International Space Station (ISS) after a journey plagued by helium leaks and engine failures.
Video shows NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams safely entering the space station after a 26-hour flight aboard the capsule, later than initially planned.
Starliner docked with the ISS at 1:34 pm ET (18:34 BST) Thursday after an earlier attempt was called off when some of the shuttle’s thrusters failed on approach.
However, after mission teams performed a restart, four of the five failed thrusters were enabled and the crew were able to complete the precision docking.
This marks the first time that Boeing’s troubled craft has been used to carry humans into space since it was commissioned more than a decade ago.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams (bottom left) and Butch Wilmore (bottom right) have safely arrived aboard the International Space Station
Wilmore and Wiliams were greeted with cheers and hugs by the seven astronauts already aboard the space station
‘Nice to be attached to the big city in the sky,’ Wilmore said once the hooks between the two spacecraft were tight.
Williams entered the space station first, jubilantly performing a short dance while floating in low gravity to celebrate her third arrival on the ISS.
Wilmore followed, snapping his fingers, and both embraced their seven fellow space station residents.
‘It was such a great welcome, a little dance party,’ said Williams. ‘That´s the way to get things going.’
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 ET (15:52 BST) on Wednesday.
After entering orbit, the craft was expected to dock with the ISS at 12:15 ET (17:15 BST), but the manoeuvre was ultimately delayed by a little more than an hour.
As Starliner approached the station, flight controllers found that five of the craft’s 28 reaction control system thrusters had failed.
These small thrusters are used to make fine adjustments to the craft’s trajectory as it approaches the station, and are critical to the precision docking maneuver.
After ‘hot-fire’ tests, four of the five failed thrusters were able to be reactivated – enough for the crew to manually bring the craft within 650 feet (200 metres) of the space station.
At this point, Starliner’s automated controls took over and safely brought the capsule to dock with the ISS.
On X, NASA posted the video of the duo entering the orbiter, calling it an ‘epic moment’ and a ‘grand entrance’.
Someone replied: ‘Better late than never.’
The pair will remain aboard the ISS for a week and are scheduled to land in a remote desert area of the US on June 14
Astronaut Suni Williams, seen on the right, performed a short dance to celebrate her third arrival on the ISS
Boeing’s Starliner Capsule (pictured) successfully docked with the ISS at 1:34 pm ET (18:34 BST) yesterday evening
An earlier attempt to dock with the station had been called off when five of the craft’s 28 reaction control thrusters failed
After pressure was equalised between the station and the shuttle, the hatch between the two opened at 3:46 pm ET (20:46 BST).
Wilmore and Williams were greeted by applause, a ringing bell, and hugs from the seven astronauts and cosmonauts already aboard the station.
The duo will remain aboard the ISS for a week and are scheduled to land in a remote desert area of the US on June 14.
However, Starliner’s engine troubles upon approach highlight the ongoing run of technical issues that Boeing has faced.
During the flight, ground crews detected two helium leaks in addition to one known leak which had been spotted on the ground.
Four of the failed thrusters, which are used to make small adjustments to the shuttle’s trajectory, were reactivated and Starliner was able to successfully dock
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:52 ET (15:52 BST) on Wednesday
As the Wilmore and Williams were preparing to sleep, mission control told the astronauts that that it ‘looks like we picked up a couple more helium leaks.’
‘We are ready to…find out exactly what you mean by ‘picked up another helium leak’, so give it to us,’ Wilmore replied.
However, the ground crews responded that they were ‘still getting the story together.’
Boeing said in a statement: ‘Helium is used in spacecraft thruster systems to allow the thrusters to fire and is not combustible or toxic.’
Yet despite its troubled journey, Starliner’s successful docking with the ISS marks a definitive leap forward for Boeing’s ambitions in space.
This marks the first time that the Starliner has been used to transport a crew to space
During the flight Wilmore and Williams (pictured) were informed that the shuttle had developed two new helium leaks
The launch comes more than a decade since Boeing was first awarded the $4.2 billion contract to develop the Starliner capsule and seven years since its intended launch.
An attempt on May 6 was called off just two hours before launch due to an audible ‘buzzing’ caused by valve issues.
Another launch attempt last Saturday was halted with less than four minutes to go due to a technical glitch with a launchpad computer.
Boeing’s success will also come as a relief for NASA who are increasingly relying on commercial providers for travel into space.
After NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis was retired in 2011, the American space agency was forced to pay around $80m (£64m) for a seat in a Russian Soyuz capsule to reach the ISS.
‘Boeing Crew Flight Test’ – a long-awaited milestone – is also the first time that a United Launch Alliance rocket (pictured) has been used to transport a crew
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is pictured approaching the ISS in May 2022, during ‘Orbital Flight Test 2’ (no humans on board)
But after 13 years, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) could finally have two different options to send astronauts to the ISS.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told a post-launch press conference that this was another milestone in this extraordinary history of NASA’.
Mr Nelson added: ‘With Dragon and Starliner, the US is going to have two unique human space transportation systems.
‘We always like to have a backup that makes it safer for our astronauts.’
And, with a SpaceX Dragon capsule already docked on the other side, this marks the first time that NASA has had two US-built craft attached to the space station.
The test flight marks the culmination of NASA’s 13-year-long Commercial Crew Program
Starliner is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, April 16, 2024
Veteran NASA astronauts Suni Williams (left) and commander Butch Wilmore (right) prior to departure on June 5
NASA has already ordered six more astronaut rotation flights to the space station as part of the CCP.
The Starliner itself also represents significant advancements in shuttle technology.
Using a ‘weldless’ design the CST-100 (which stands for Crew Space Transportation) should reduce the risk of structural failure.
Although it will typically transport four passengers the Starliner can take up to seven astronauts and can be reused up to ten times with six months of refurbishment between flights.
Famous for manufacturing commercial airplanes, Boeing has been under heavy scrutiny in recent months after a chunk of fuselage blew out of one of its new 737s.
The firm has been blocked from increasing production of the plane as it addresses ongoing safety issues.
EXPLAINED: THE $100 BILLION INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SITS 250 MILES ABOVE THE EARTH
The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100 billion (£80 billion) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400 km) above Earth.
It has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.
Crews have come mainly from the US and Russia, but the Japanese space agency JAXA and European space agency ESA have also sent astronauts.
The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years and has been expended with multiple new modules added and upgrades to systems
Research conducted aboard the ISS often requires one or more of the unusual conditions present in low Earth orbit, such as low-gravity or oxygen.
ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.
The US space agency, NASA, spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) a year on the space station program, with the remaining funding coming from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.
So far 244 individuals from 19 countries have visited the station, and among them eight private citizens who spent up to $50 million for their visit.
There is an ongoing debate about the future of the station beyond 2025, when it is thought some of the original structure will reach ‘end of life’.
Russia, a major partner in the station, plans to launch its own orbital platform around then, with Axiom Space, a private firm, planning to send its own modules for purely commercial use to the station at the same time.
NASA, ESA, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are working together to build a space station in orbit around the moon, and Russia and China are working on a similar project, that would also include a base on the surface.
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