Boeing, the American aerospace company, successfully launched its new spacecraft, "Starliner," on June 5th (Korean time) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The Starliner has now separated from the rocket and is on its way to the International Space Station (ISS). It is scheduled to dock with the ISS on June 7th (Korean time).

This launch marks the first crewed flight of Starliner, carrying two NASA astronauts. Starliner was developed as part of NASA's "Commercial Crew Program" to transport astronauts to the ISS. Starliner has already successfully completed unmanned test flights to dock with the ISS in 2019 and 2022, but crewed flights were postponed several times due to technical issues.

This flight is a crucial test to prove the technical reliability of Starliner. Starliner is expected to be used as a stable means of transporting astronauts between the ISS and Earth, and it is also expected to play a key role in the future commercial space travel industry.

However, the development process of Starliner was not smooth. In 2019, it failed to dock with the ISS due to a software error, and in 2022, a rocket problem arose just before launch, causing a delay. Furthermore, Boeing is said to have suffered a total loss of $1.4 billion (approximately 220 billion yen) due to delays and technical issues during the Starliner development process.

The success of this crewed flight holds great significance for Boeing. Boeing aims to leverage this success to play a more prominent role in the space industry and establish itself as a leading company in the era of space travel.