Boeing’s Starliner team achieved a major flight test milestone on the successful deployment of their pad abort system.
This test was designed to ensure the safety of the astronauts that will eventually pilot the Starliner, moving them from harm’s way in the unlikely case of an emergency.
The launch pad abort is another step forward in the final series of tests necessary to make sure the spacecraft is safe on the ground and can handle the most extreme conditions space has to offer.
The Starliner team’s next mission will be an Orbital Flight Test, which will launch an uncrewed spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.