Giant aerospace corporation Boeing is responsible for one of the most popular displays at the International Astronautical Congress 2017 at the Adelaide Convention Centre (25-29 September). A full scale mock up of the flight command deck of the new Star Liner spacecraft attracts large crowds of veterans and geeks alike in the Exhibition Hall at IAC2017.

Star Liner is a new commercial spacecraft designed to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). For the first time both NASA astronauts and civilians will fly together on a regular basis.

Boeing representative, Mr Tony Castilleja details the background to the new spacecraft. “The space shuttle cockpit had over 1,700 switches” he said. “Star Liner has about 60-70 switches”. Mr Castilleja said that this was the minimum number of switches necessary for ‘safeing’ the vehicle. Safeing refers to an emergency situation where an astronaut takes control of the vehicle for a manual docking. “We do that for just in case” said Castilleja. “There is no need for human interaction with the vehicle. Our baseline design is that the vehicle flies itself”.

The Starliner series of spacecraft have been designed with a commercial aspect in mind. Four of the five seats on the vehicle will be reserved for NASA astronauts. The fifth is up for grabs. “The fifth seat is open for sale to institutions, universities and other countries” Mr Castilleja said. “I cannot reveal the price at this time” he said with a smile. “But currently the United States pays Russia 80 million dollars per seat to transport NASA astronauts to the ISS. Star Liner will be less than that and the commercial space market will drive the price down even further”.

Three vehicles are currently under construction at the Kennedy Space Center in the Columbia space shuttle hanger. The first flight is scheduled for 2018 and will mark a new phase in the commercial development of outer space. Delegates here at the congress are given the opportunity to manually dock with the ISS.

ENDS