Jay Clemens
Boeing has concluded the development and testing phase of a commercial crew transportation system the company built for NASA.
The testing represents the final milestone for the the CST-100 spacecraft and Atlas V rocket under Boeing’s four-year agreement with NASA, the space agency said Friday.
NASA intends for the spacecraft to transport crew members to the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Boeing worked to evaluate the CST-100 and the Atlas V launch vehicle in wind tunnels and test-fire the launch abort engines and thrusters built for the spacecraft’s maneuvering operations.
NASA selected Boeing in 2010 as one of five companies to develop the crew transportation systems under the first phase of the contract.
The Boeing team also modified the system’s launch, docking, on-orbit, and re-entry and landing maneuvers software, as well as simulated communications and mission operations of the spacecraft.
