After a successful unmanned test flight to the International Space Station in May, the "Starliner" spacecraft developed by Boeing on behalf of the US space agency Nasa is scheduled to fly to the ISS with astronauts on board for the first time in February 2023 at the earliest. An appointment at the beginning of February is currently being targeted, said Nasa manager Steve Stich at a press conference on Thursday. However, that could still change. "We'll fly when we're ready."

In May, the "Starliner" completed a successful flight to the ISS for the first time and spent four days there - an important test for the crisis-ridden spaceship. In the future, it will transport astronauts to the ISS as an alternative to SpaceX's "Crew Dragon" space capsule. However, due to a number of issues, the project is well behind schedule.