NASA Invites Media to Launch of Boeing's Orbital Flight Test-2

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Media accreditation is open for prelaunch and launch activities for NASA's Boeing Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission to the International Space Station, the second uncrewed flight test of the company's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Liftoff on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Starliner is targeted for 2:53 p.m. EDT Friday, July 30, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

The uncrewed mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V rocket from launch to docking to a return to Earth in the desert of the western United States. Following a successful completion of the OFT-2 mission, NASA and Boeing are targeting late 2021 for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), Starliner's first flight with astronauts aboard.

OFT-2 and CFT will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing's crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station.

U.S. media also may apply separately for a photo opportunity during the rollout of the Starliner spacecraft from Boeing's Commercial Cargo and Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The operational activity is targeted for approximately 4 a.m. EDT Saturday, July 17.

Media accreditation deadlines for both OFT-2 launch and the photo opportunity are as follows:

• U.S. media interested in being on-site for a photo opportunity of the Starliner rollout must apply for credentials by 4 p.m. Friday, June 25.
• U.S. media interested in covering the OFT-2 launch must apply for credentials by 4 p.m. Friday, July 2.
• U.S.-based international media without U.S. citizenship interested in covering the OFT-2 launch must apply by 4 p.m. Friday, June 11.

All accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

NASA continues to monitor developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and Kennedy will grant access to only a limited number of media to protect the health and safety of media and employees. Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions at Kennedy, international media coming from overseas will need to follow quarantine requirements.

The agency will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the agency's chief health and medical officer and will immediately communicate any updates that may affect media access for this launch.

For questions about media accreditation, email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov. For other questions, contact Kennedy's newsroom at: 321-867-2468.

Reporters with special logistics requests for Kennedy, such as space for satellite trucks, trailers, tents, electrical connections, or workspaces, must contact Jerry Bernfeld at: jerrold.s.bernfeld@nasa.gov by Friday, July 9.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program is working with the American aerospace industry through a public-private partnership to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil. The goal of the program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the space station, which will allow for additional research time and will increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity's testbed for exploration. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in space exploration, including future missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

For launch coverage and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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SOURCE NASA