BLUF

A Boeing-designed space capsule landed safely back on Earth after a week-long International Space Station (ISS) trip. The capsule—named Starliner—is the only private American capsule to reach the ISS other than SpaceX.

Summary

This article by Rebecca Heilweil, writing for Vox, makes the following points:
  • Boeing has spent several years trying to build a capsule that could transport humans to the space station, and it could do just that on its next mission, which is slated for later this year (the only passenger on the Starliner this time around was a mannequin).
  • If Boeing successfully recreates the mission with human passengers on board, it will become only the second US private spacecraft certified to carry astronauts to the ISS.

This is an important milestone for competition in the commercial space industry, which has heavily depended on a single company controlled by Elon Musk.

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