After many setbacks and launch cancellations over the last few years, Boeing’s joint project with NASA, the CST-100 Starliner manned spacecraft, has finally been set to launch at 10:34 P.M. ET this coming Monday.

The spacecraft was initially announced all the way back in 2011 and has undergone rigorous testing and unmanned test flights. The first manned flight was supposed to happen in early 2020, but was delayed even further. The 2020 pandemic diverted much attention away from the spacecraft as there were greater issues at hand.

Following the pandemic, Boeing found it hard to start the process of scheduling a launch. Boeing was not able to continue testing until mid-2022 where they successfully sent the spacecraft unmanned to the ISS.

The Starliner’s first journey will be a regular trip to the ISS, transporting the people on board. Though currently the spacecraft has only been used for research purposes, Boeing hopes that it will pave the way for more publicly owned companies to fund commercial space flights.

As of the writing of this article, the launch has been delayed once more until tomorrow: Friday, May 10th 2024.