Boeing hopes third time the charm for Starliner test flight

The company hopes to send a manned crew to the International Space Station later this year after two prior test flights failed

Boeing's crew capsule rocketed into orbit on Thursday on a repeat test flight without astronauts, after years of being grounded by flaws that could have doomed the spacecraft.

Only a test dummy was aboard. If the capsule reaches the International Space Station on Friday and everything else goes well, two or three Nasa test pilots could strap in by the end of this year or early next for the company's first crew flight.