Boeing Co (BA)’s Starliner to Do More Than Ferrying NASA Scientists

Boeing Co (NYSE:BA)’s Starliner spaceships will not be exclusive to scientific missions by NASA. People will also be able to get onto Starliner to orbit the Earth and experience the effect of weightlessness out there in the space. With Starliner, Boeing is certainly out to bring new perfective to space transportation by especially opening up the opportunity to tour the space for nonscientific explorers.

Boeing recently announced that it will use a defunct NASA space facility in Florida to assembly its spaceships called the Starliner. When the announcement came, it was clear that NASA intended to use the spaceship to transport its scientists to the International Space Station (ISS). That is correct, but Starliner will also do more. Those who have harbored dreams of travelling to the space but haven’t had an opportunity to get onto any spacecraft will have the spaceship to rely on, Boeing says.

Entertainment space mission

Boeing has figured out a commercial spacecraft going by the name CST-100 Starliner, a first for the company. NASA has chipped in as funder of the Starliner initiative because it hopes to use the machine to shuttle astronauts to the ISS. But beyond serving NASA and its space missions, Boeing is considering making it the spacecraft that private citizens can also use to orbit the Earth just to entertain themselves and also learn new things about the space. Think about a couple planning their wedding in the space for real marriage bliss aboard.

Work in progress

The Starliner is currently in research and development phase. Boeing has scheduled a series of tests for the spaceship in the next few years before it can let the spacecraft to be used for actual space missions.

Additional research hours
For NASA, Starliner will be able to help double the research time available for its space scientists. The additional research time will be valuable for the agency given that it is preparing for deep space exploration to Mars in 2030.

Lifting the space barrier
For private citizen, Boeing will be lifting a huge barrier to excursions that involve orbiting the Earth.

SpaceX, backed by Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, is also working on its version of space shuttles that might also have dual purpose of ferrying NASA researchers and private citizens to the space.