Boeing Starliner fueled for launch to kick off first piloted test flight

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket was fueled for a second launch try Saturday to boost Boeing's Starliner crew capsule into orbit on the oft-delayed crew capsule's first piloted test flight, a voyage to the International Space Station.

With NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita Williams monitoring the ship's automated ascent, the workhorse Atlas 5 was scheduled for liftoff from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:25 p.m. EDT, roughly the moment Earth's rotation carried the pad into alignment with the space station's orbit.

If all goes well, the Starliner will catch up with the station Sunday and dock at the lab's forward port around 1:50 p.m. Wilmore and Williams plan to return to Earth on June 10.