'Space Taxi' Boeing Starliner Docks with ISS... "After 2 Years and 4 Months"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Boeing's manned capsule 'CST-100 Starliner,' which will be used for the 'space taxi service' transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), docked with the ISS on the 20th (local time).

According to foreign media, the Starliner successfully docked with the ISS at 8:28 PM on the same day, just 26 hours after its launch.

Previously, the Starliner was launched from Space Launch Complex 41 at the U.S. Space Force Base in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the day before for an uncrewed test flight and reached its target orbit. After successfully docking with the ISS, the Starliner, currently cruising, will leave the ISS six days later. It is scheduled to conclude its journey by landing with parachutes in the desert of New Mexico.

This flight of the Starliner was achieved two years and four months after the first orbital test flight in 2019, which was thwarted by software issues. Once the manned test flight planned for the end of this year is completed, the Starliner will become a 'space taxi' traveling between Earth and the space station alongside SpaceX's 'Crew Dragon.'

NASA welcomes the imminent 'multi-system' of space taxi services. Since the resumption of manned flights in the U.S. in 2020, NASA has had to rely entirely on SpaceX's 'Crew Dragon' or 'Falcon 9' for astronaut flights. However, if Boeing successfully completes the manned test flight this year, this monopoly is expected to be broken.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, "The journey of Boeing's Starliner clearly shows how important it is to have two types of manned capsules."