Nichols Martin
United Launch Alliance has delivered its Atlas V rocket booster to Cape Canaveral, Fla., for a mission to send astronauts to the International Space Station, AL.com reported Thursday.
The rocket is set to lift the Boeing-made Starliner spacecraft for a crewed test flight scheduled for later this year.
“The Atlas V first stage will launch our first NASA and Boeing astronauts to the International Space Station from U.S. soil and we could not be more honored to support this historic mission,” Gary Wentz, vice president of government and commercial programs at ULA, said at a commemorative ceremony.
Engineers from Kennedy Space Flight Center will link the Atlas V and Centaur boosters with Starliner, Wentz stated. Centaur will serve as the upper stage booster for the upcoming flight.
After the testing stage, NASA will utilize Starliner to send American astronauts to space, the report noted.
