Boeing, SpaceX successfully test key rockets

Boeing's Starliner rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral in Florida

"The United States will have two unique human transportation systems for ISS"

(Image credit: Paul Hennessy / Anadolu via Getty Images)

What happened

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station on Thursday afternoon, depositing astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams for a brief stay, a day after the aerospace giant's first crewed space flight launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Hours earlier, rival space company SpaceX conducted the first successful full test flight of its Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket.

Who said what

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX to build spacecraft to replace the retired shuttle fleets, and Space X's Dragon capsules have been flying astronauts to the ISS since 2020. "When Starliner is certified, the United States will have two unique human transportation systems for ISS," said Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator.

This was Starship's fourth test flight and Boeing's third attempt to launch Wilmore and Williams into space aboard Starliner. Neither flight was flawless. Starliner had four helium leaks and briefly lost the use of five maneuvering thrusters. "Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on X, "Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!"

What next?

Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth no earlier than June 14, Boeing said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.