Skip to main content

How to watch Starliner’s first ISS dock attempt today

NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is currently on its way to the International Space Station (ISS) after a successful launch aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday evening.

Recommended Videos

The spacecraft, which is on its second uncrewed test flight following a failed mission in 2019, is scheduled to dock with the ISS at 7:10 p.m. ET (4:10 p.m. PT) on Friday, May 20.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), as the mission is known, is crucial for Boeing as it seeks to prove that it has finally resolved the myriad of issues that ruined the first test flight and also prevented a second launch attempt in August last year.

Besides acting as a test flight, the spacecraft is also carrying with it 500 pounds of cargo for the station.

If the Starliner can dock at the space station on Friday, and also make a successful return to Earth next week in a parachute-assisted landing in New Mexico, then the next test flight will include a crew.

Assuming the crewed flight to the ISS goes as planned, NASA will finally have another transportation option — alongside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft — for astronaut missions to and from the ISS.

What to expect

The livestream will show the Starliner’s steady approach to the space station, with a real-time audio feed between Mission Control in Houston and the crew on the ISS also part of the broadcast.

We’ll also get to see Boeing’s spacecraft attempt its first-ever docking with the space station. Starliner, like the Crew Dragon, features an automatic docking system that should enable it to autonomously link up with the orbital outpost.

Friday’s docking maneuver is a highly anticipated part of the mission as the spacecraft never got this far on its first test flight three years ago.

How to watch

NASA will begin its livestream of the Starliner’s arrival at the space station at 3:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. PT) on Friday, May 20.

The actual docking is scheduled to take place about three-and-a-half hours later at 7:10 p.m. ET (4:10 p.m. PT).

You can watch the livestream via the video player embedded at the top of this page, or by visiting NASA’s website, which will carry the same feed.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
How to watch SpaceX’s seventh Starship launch on Thursday
The Super Heavy booster's Raptor engines powering the Starship's launch on November 19, 2024.

UPDATE: SpaceX has delayed Wednesday's launch attempt. The article below has been updated to include details of the new schedule.

SpaceX is making final preparations for the seventh launch of the Starship, the most powerful rocket ever to fly.

Read more
How to watch Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch for the first time
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.

UPDATE: Following Monday morning's scrubbed launch attempt of the New Glenn rocket, Blue Origin is now targeting Thursday, January 16, for liftoff. More details below.

Blue Origin, the spaceflight company set up by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is about to perform the first launch of its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket.

Read more
Watch India attempt a rare space feat for the first time tonight
india docking satellites screenshot 2025 01 08 155546

With its growing space program, India will attempt a new feat tonight: docking two satellites together in orbit for the first time. This kind of maneuver requires extremely precise movements and planning, and in the long term, will help India's ambition to send increasingly sophisticated missions to the moon. The Indian space agency, the ISRO, will livestream the event tonight so you can watch at home.

Coverage begins at 9:15 p.m. ET tonight, Wednesday, January 8, and you can watch on YouTube or using the video embedded below:

Read more