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How to watch Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut launch tonight live online

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The Boeing Starliner capsule that will fly the company's Crew Flight Test mission to the International Space Station is shown at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2023. (Image credit: Boeing/John Grant)

Update for May 14: Boeing announced today that teams are now targeting a launch date of no earlier than 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT) on Tuesday, May 21, to complete additional testing on the Atlas V rocket that will launch Starliner. 

Boeing's Starliner capsule is scheduled to launch astronauts for the first time ever on May 21 and you'll be able to watch it live online.

Space fans will be glued to their screens for the historic liftoff, which will send NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams toward the International Space Station (ISS) atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.

"I have all the confidence in not only our capabilities, the spacecraft capabilities, but also our mission control team who's ready for the challenge. They're up for it," Williams told reporters after arriving in Florida near the launch site on April 25.

But there will be other events to take in, both in the leadup to launch and in its aftermath. Here's a guide to the upcoming webcasts that will highlight the Boeing mission, which is known as Crew Flight Test (CFT). You'll be able to watch all of them here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA.

Related: Boeing Starliner 1st astronaut flight: Live updates

Tuesday, May 21: Launch day!

Launch day! CFT is scheduled to lift off on 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT) on Tuesday, May 21, but the livestream action should start about four hours earlier.

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The NASA livestream coverage will continue long past launch, all the way through Starliner's docking with the ISS and beyond.

The following events are of particular interest (but note that the given times are tentative and could change):

Tuesday, May 21: Post-launch press conference

A post-launch press conference is expected to start on Tuesday (May 21) roughly two hours after launch, with the following participants:

Wednesday, May 22: Docking day at the ISS

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May 22 is CFT docking day. Starliner is expected to arrive at the ISS the day after launch. The hatches between the two craft will open after docking, and astronauts aboard the orbiting lab will deliver welcome remarks.

Following that, NASA will host a post-docking news conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston, with the following participants:

Starliner will spend about 10 days docked to the ISS before coming back home to Earth. There will doubtless be further coverage of the CFT mission beyond these launch- and arrival-oriented events, so stay tuned!

Previews events

Wednesday, May 1: Astronaut press conference

The action started on Wednesday (May 1) at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT), when NASA held a press conference with Wilmore and Williams at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, which is next door to CFT's launch site, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. 

"It almost feels unreal," Williams, who will serve as the mission pilot, said during the livestreamed event, which was conducted remotely while the astronauts were under quarantine ahead of their impending mission. "I don't think either one of us ever dreamed that we'd be associated with the first flight of a brand-new spacecraft."

Friday, May 3: Prelaunch news conference

NASA officials and Starliner program leadership held a preflight press conference at KSC on Friday (May 3) to announce that all team members polled 'go' for launch on May 6.

During opening remarks, NASA administrator Bill Nelson stressed the historical importance of a spacecraft's first crew test flight. "The first time humans have flown on a new spacecraft started with Mercury, then with Gemini, then with Apollo, the space shuttle, then Dragon and now Starliner," Nelson said. 

"Oh by the way, one other historical fact is this is the first time since the Apollo 7 launch that a human astronaut launch is actually on what used to be the Air Force's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and now is of course, Cape Canaveral Space Force station," Nelson added.

Update, 9 p.m. EDT: Boeing Starliner's launch has been scrubbed for at least 24 hours due to a valve issue on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. No backup launch date has been announced. We will issue more updates at Space.com when available.

Update, 9 p.m. EDT: Boeing Starliner's launch has been scrubbed for at least 24 hours due to a valve issue on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. No backup launch date has been announced. We will issue more updates at Space.com when available.

Update, 9 p.m. EDT: Boeing Starliner's launch has been scrubbed for at least 24 hours due to a valve issue on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. No backup launch date has been announced. We will issue more updates at Space.com when available.

Update, 9 p.m. EDT: Boeing Starliner's launch has been scrubbed for at least 24 hours due to a valve issue on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. No backup launch date has been announced. We will issue more updates at Space.com when available.

Update, 9 p.m. EDT: Boeing Starliner's launch has been scrubbed for at least 24 hours due to a valve issue on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. No backup launch date has been announced. We will issue more updates at Space.com when available.

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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.

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