– Launch marks first crewed launch of Starliner to the International Space Station

– Rendezvous and docking with ISS are scheduled for June 6

NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams became the first people to launch to orbit inside a Boeing [NYSE: BA] Starliner, lifting off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:52am ET and embarking on a 25-hour flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch marks the beginning of the NASA-Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT).

“This crew flight test represents the beginning of a new era of space exploration as we watch astronauts Wilmore and Williams put Boeing’s Starliner through its paces on the way to the International Space Station,” said Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Ted Colbert. “This is a great start. We look forward to getting the astronauts safely to the space station and back home.”

Boeing release