The hatches separating the two spacecraft are scheduled to open Saturday (May 21) around 11:45 a.m. EDT (1545 GMT).
in the capsule's propulsion system. Reaching the space station took some weight off Boeing's shoulders as NASA goes through the process of certifying Starliner for crewed missions.
The thruster malfunctions shortly after Thursday's launch don't appear to be related to the previous issues the vehicle has experienced. At a post-launch press briefing Thursday night, NASA and Boeing representatives doubled down on their confidence in Starliner to complete its mission, regardless of the new thruster problems.
"The system is designed to be redundant, and it performed like it was supposed to," said Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager for Boeing's commercial crew program. Starliner spent Thursday night chasing down the orbital laboratory, and it began executing rendezvous test maneuvers just after 3:30 p.m. EDT on Friday. Before moving to dock, the capsule successfully demonstrated its ability to stop on command as well as retreat away from the station in case of emergency.
Satisfied with the results, Boeing flight operators instructed Starliner to begin docking procedures, and the vehicle started its slow progression toward the station's Harmony module. At 8:28 p.m. EDT on Friday , Starliner officially docked with the International Space Station.
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