Boeing Starliner rocket launch scrubbed, moved to Wednesday

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla. - NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are scheduled to fly to the International Space Station this week as part of the Crew Flight Test of the highly-anticipated Boeing Starliner.

The launch was scrubbed on Saturday and Sunday due to an automatic hold of the ground launch sequencer. NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test mission teams are now targeting a launch at 10:52 a.m. EDT Wednesday, June 5, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

WATCH LIVE: NASA coverage begins at 6:45 a.m. You can watch in the player above. FOX 35 coverage will begin shortly before the launch on FOX 35, FOX35Orlando.com, FOX 35 News app, and the FOX Local TV app.

The Boeing Starliner was also supposed to launch on May 6, but that launch was scrubbed due to a faulty oxygen valve and helium leak, NASA said. Both have since been fixed.

Meet the NASA astronauts: Suni Williams & Butch Wilmore

Astronauts Sunita "Suni" Williams, 58, and Barry "Butch" Wilmore, 61, are both retired Navy captains going to space for the third time.

Williams spent 322 days on the International Space Station. She was a Navy test pilot and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and Florida Tech.

Wilmore piloted the space shuttle mission STS-129 and commanded Expedition 42 on the International Space Station. He was a Navy officer and pilot and graduated from Tennessee Tech and the University of Tennessee.

As the CFT crew, the astronauts will test Starliner's capability to certify the spacecraft for future astronaut missions. As former Navy test pilots, both astronauts say it is an honor.

Click here to learn more about the crew.

Once docked at the ISS, both will be there for about a week.

What's the mission?

According to Boeing, this launch will demonstrate the Starliner's launch-to-landing capabilities and "prove the team’s readiness to achieve NASA certification and fly long-duration missions for the agency."

Wilmore and Williams will participate in human research studies on the physiological impacts of space flight and carry some hardware for future studies. Because this is Boeing's Crew Flight Test (CFT), researchers will pay extra attention to how all systems work.

How long will Suni and Butch be on the International Space Station?

When the Starliner eventually launches, Wilmore and Williams will take about 26 hours to reach the International Space Station (ISS), where they will stay for about a week.

Why this launch is historic

Per NASA: "Williams is the first female astronaut to fly on the first flight of a crewed spacecraft. It also marks the first crewed launch on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and the first crewed launch on an Atlas family class rocket since Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury program flight aboard "Faith 7" in May 1963. "