Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2


The Boeing Orbital Flight Test 2 is a planned repeat of the Boeing's first Orbital Flight Test that was plagued with software problems. The mission will test the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, built by Boeing as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The mission is planned to last eight days, involving a rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station, followed by landing in the western United States. This is the first planned docking of Starliner after the December 2019 flight failed to rendezvous with the station due to an anomaly with the spacecraft's mission elapsed time clock. The mission is planned to use the hardware, Starliner, and Atlas V that was planned for the crewed flight test.
On 6 April 2020, Boeing announced that they would redo the Orbital Flight Test to prove and meet all of the test objectives. A four-month investigation of the first Orbital Flight Test resulted in Boeing proposing another uncrewed flight test of the spacecraft's systems. NASA accepted the proposal from Boeing to do another uncrewed test flight at no cost to the American taxpayers.
The cost for the second flight is an estimated $410 million. The Starliner is scheduled for launch no earlier than 13 November 2020.

Payload

Mission

The second Atlas V N22, designated AV-082, will launch the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on its second uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station. The capsule is intended to dock with the space station, then return to Earth to land in the Western United States after an orbital shakedown cruise ahead of Boeing Crewed Flight Test.
OFT 2 is the second flight of an Atlas V without a payload fairing and with a dual-engine Centaur upper stage. The dual-engine Centaur utilizes two RL10s and is required for Starliner flights in order to provide a launch trajectory that allows for a safe abort at any point in the mission.