The new spacecraft is scheduled for its inaugural human flight, set to launch on an Atlas V rocket at 10:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This momentous event will be broadcast live on NASA’s website starting at 6:45 a.m. ET. Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are poised to embark on the Starliner capsule, destined for the International Space Station.

The forecast indicates a 90% chance of favorable conditions for the Wednesday morning launch, with cumulus clouds being the only potential issue, as reported by the US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron. Should the launch be delayed, a subsequent opportunity is scheduled for 10:29 a.m. ET on Thursday, NASA states.

This mission, dubbed the Crew Flight Test, represents the culmination of Boeing's endeavor to create a spacecraft that can compete with SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, thereby broadening the United States' capabilities for transporting astronauts to the space station via NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The program seeks to encourage partnerships with the private sector. A successful flight would signify the sixth debut of a manned spacecraft in the nation's history, as remarked by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a May press conference.

Nelson traced the lineage of such missions: "It started with Mercury, then Gemini, then Apollo, the space shuttle, then (SpaceX’s) Dragon — and now Starliner."

Williams is set to make history as the first woman to participate in such a pioneering mission.

The astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have been in quarantine since late April to ensure their health. If the Starliner launch proceeds as planned, they will journey for just over 24 hours to reach the space station.

Upon docking at approximately 12:15 p.m. ET on Thursday, they will join the current crew of seven astronauts and cosmonauts for an eight-day tenure aboard the orbiting laboratory.