America has taken another step towards being able to launch its astronauts into orbit again – a capability it’s not had for nearly nine years.
The Boeing company has launched a test capsule to the International Space Station (ISS).
Known as Starliner, the vehicle is flying uncrewed on this occasion.
But if it performs without incident, astronauts will start using the craft next year.
Lift-off atop an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida took place at 06:36 local time (11:36 GMT) on Friday.
The automated mission to the ISS should last a week. The capsule will come home to New Mexico, using parachutes and airbags to make a soft landing on desert terrain in the early hours of 28 December.
Not since 2011, when the shuttles were retired, have Americans launched from their own soil; US astronauts have been hitching rides in Russian Soyuz capsules instead.
Thursday, April 25, 2024