After years of being grounded by flaws that could have doomed the craft, Boeing's crew capsule rocketed into the sky on a repeat test flight.
A test dummy was on board. If the capsule reaches the International Space Station on Friday and everything goes well, two or three Nasa test pilots could strap in by the end of this year or early next for the company's first crew flight.
Boeing has shot at the high-stakes flight demo before.
The space station was quickly chased by Starliner after it made it to the proper location. The rendezvous and docking were important.
Mark Nappi, vice-president and manager of Boeing's commercial crew program, said there might be a couple of sleepless nights.
The first test flight of Starliner was stricken by software errors so severe that the capsule ended up in the wrong place. Ground controllers cut short the mission as the spacecraft came close to being destroyed.
Boeing returned a different capsule to the launch pad after a number of safety fixes. Another round of repairs was caused by corroded valves.
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The test flight program cost Boeing $600m.
On the eve of liftoff, Kathy Lueders, the Nasa space operations chief, stressed the importance of bringing down the risk.
Boeing is trying to catch up with the other contracted taxi service. For the past two years, Musk's company has flown astronauts to and from the space station and delivered cargo for a decade.
After the shuttle program ended in 2011, Nasa hired Boeing and SpaceX to launch astronauts to the space station. Bill Nelson said that it was important for Boeing's Starliner to succeed.
Nelson said hours before liftoff that they always want to have a backup.
Boeing's fully automated capsule will attempt to dock at the space station on its own. If necessary, station astronauts will be able to steer the capsule by remote control.
After a few days at the space station, Starliner will attempt a touchdown in the New Mexico desert.
The first Starliner crew has yet to be named. The original three stepped aside because the program was so far behind. The leading candidates gathered at Cape Canaveral for the launch of Starliner.
The next one is us and we are thrilled for this.
The capsule is carrying groceries and spacewalking gear for the seven station residents. The US spacewalks have been on hold since the astronauts helmet took on water. If an emergency spacewalk is required, Nasa is sending up extra absorbent pads for use in helmets.
The Apollo astronauts took tree seeds to the moon and they became so-called moon trees here on Earth.
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