Boeing's first crewed Starliner space mission may launch as early as 2021

Boeing said Tuesday it plans a do-over of its unmanned Starliner crew capsule flight test to the International Space Station (ISS) in December or January, and that if it's successful, a crewed mission may follow as early as summer 2021.

A post-certification mission would then follow, in winter, the company added.

Above, video from that last launch attempt for the Starliner, back in 2019.

From Reuters:

Boeing is eager for another shot at proving its crew capsule after technical failures put the aerospace juggernaut behind Elon Musk's rocket company SpaceX, which successfully returned its rival crew capsule from the ISS earlier this month.

During Boeing's first uncrewed test, in December 2019, a series of software glitches and an issue with the spacecraft's automated timer resulted in Starliner failing to dock at the space station and returning to Earth a week early.

In February, a NASA safety review panel found Boeing had narrowly missed a "catastrophic failure" in the botched test, and recommended examining the company's software verification process before letting it fly humans to space.

More at Reuters: Boeing's first Starliner crewed mission tentatively slated for 2021