Boeing's new Starliner space capsule was launched without passengers on a test flight to the International Space Station.

The CST-100 Starliner capsule was launched just before 7pm local time (11pm GMT last night) from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida.

It was launched into orbit by an Atlas V rocket.

About 30 minutes after takeoff, the Starliner reached its planned pre-orbit after separating from the Atlas V rocket and flying at its own power on a trajectory to reach the ISS.

At this very moment, during the previous test flight at the end of 2019, a software problem thwarted the possibility of the spacecraft reaching the space station. 

The Starliner capsule will make another attempt to reach the ISS in mid-May

If all goes according to plan, the capsule will arrive on the ISS in about 24 hours and tonight it will jump into orbit over 400 kilometers above the Earth.

The Boeing capsule will spend 4 to 5 days attached to the ISS before detaching from it and returning to Earth.

It will land with a parachute-cushioned parachute landing in the White Sands Desert in New Mexico.

A successful Starliner mission will be a major step toward providing NASA with a second reliable means of transporting astronauts to and from the ISS.

NASA