Spaceport America announced a successful Boeing CST-100 Starliner Parachute System Test Launch from Spaceport America’s horizontal launch complex on Monday, March 10, 2017.
In collaboration with teams from Boeing and White Sands Missile Range, a giant helium-filled balloon lifted off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, carrying a flight-sized boilerplate Starliner spacecraft up to about 40,000 feet where it floated across the San Andres Mountains for a parachute landing on the other side. The goal was for the spacecraft to reach the same velocity it would experience during a return from space and for the parachutes to deploy as planned.
Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is being developed in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The Starliner was designed to accommodate seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo, for missions to low-Earth orbit. For NASA service missions to the International Space Station, it will carry up to four NASA-sponsored crew members and time-critical scientific research. The Starliner has an innovative, weldless structure and is reusable up to 10 times with a six-month turnaround time. It also features wireless Internet and tablet technology for crew interfaces.
