Raphael Stevens

Boeing launched its first Starliner flight with astronauts on Wednesday.
The launch took off at 10:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Starliner’s crew debut has been delayed by years, while SpaceX’s competing Dragon capsule has flown astronauts for NASA regularly since 2020.

Boeing launched its first Starliner flight with astronauts on Wednesday, beginning a crucial final flight test of the long-delayed spacecraft.
The launch took off at 10:52 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with two NASA astronauts aboard. Starliner is carried by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and is bound for the International Space Station.

About 15 minutes after launch, the rocket released the Starliner capsule in orbit as planned, with the flight going as expected, according to mission control.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying two astronauts aboard Boeing’s Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test is launched on a mission to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 5, 2024.
Steve Nesius | Reuters

NASA’s broadcast of the launch also noted that although Starliner has cameras onboard to show inside and outside the cabin, Boeing won’t be able to relay video back down to the ground until the spacecraft reaches the ISS.
Starliner will fly in space for about 25 hours before a planned docking with the ISS at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday. The astronauts will then spend about a week on the ISS, focused on testing Starliner, before returning to Earth.

Boeing’s crew flight test aims to certify the Starliner system as capable of carrying NASA astronauts to and from the ISS.
Wednesday’s liftoff comes after a series of attempts to launch the mission. On Saturday, a launch attempt was called off in the final minutes of the countdown due to a problem with one of the computers that provides ground support to the rocket. In early May, another attempt was called off due to an issue detected with the rocket itself.

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United Launch Alliance — or ULA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin — replaced the rocket’s problematic valve after the May attempt and replaced a faulty part in the ground infrastructure computer after Saturday’s attempt.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft sits at the Space Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 3, 2024.
Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo | AFP | Getty Images

Between the two previous launch attempts, NASA and Boeing found a “small” helium leak in Starliner, causing the agency and company to perform another series of assessments.
After analysis, NASA and Boeing said the source of the leak was in the spacecraft’s helium propulsion system. But officials said after an investigation that the leak was “stable” and “not a safety of flight issue.”

SpaceX competition

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying two astronauts aboard Boeing’s Starliner-1 Crew Flight Test is launched on a mission to the International Space Station, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 5, 2024.
Joe Skipper | Reuters

The astronauts

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, right, and Suni Williams wait for liftoff inside the Boeing Starliner capsule at Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 5, 2024.
NASA via AP

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are flying on Starliner, with the former serving as the spacecraft’s commander and the latter as its pilot.
Wilmore joined NASA in 2000 and has flown to space twice previously on the Space Shuttle and Russia’s Soyuz. Before NASA, Wilmore was a U.S. Navy pilot.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams.
Credit: Kim Shiflett | NASA

Williams was selected by NASA in 1998 and has also flown to space twice before, on the Space Shuttle and then the Soyuz. Williams was also a Navy pilot, like Wilmore, before joining the space agency.

The rocket and capsule

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is seen on the launch pad of Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on May 30, 2024.
Isaac Watson | NASA

Starliner launches on ULA’s Atlas V. The rocket debuted in 2002, and the Starliner crew flight test represents its 100th launch.
The capsule itself is built to carry as many as four NASA astronauts per flight and more than 200 pounds of research and cargo. The spacecraft lands using a parachute and airbag system. Starliner is reusable, with each capsule designed to fly as many as 10 missions.

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Walmart on Wednesday announced new training programs for store and warehouse employees.
As the nation’s largest private employer, the company needs to fill hard-to-find roles, including pharmacy and HVAC technicians.
The big-box retailer is piloting a new program in the Dallas area for employees who want to get into a skilled trade.

An employee adjusts a price label for Barbie dolls displayed for sale ahead of Black Friday at a Walmart Supercenter in Burbank, California, Nov. 14, 2023.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Walmart on Wednesday said it will offer new training programs and certifications to fill high-demand roles across its business, such as HVAC technicians, opticians and software engineers.
The big-box retailer said it will also offer another reason for hourly store workers to stick around: a bonus of up to $1,000 per year.

Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, has been investing in its stores and its workforce as it tries to hang on to the title of the nation’s top retailer, with Amazon hot on its heels. The retail giant aims to retain market share gains, particularly in the grocery department, during a period of high inflation.
Early this year, the company announced that store managers could earn more than $400,000 a year, including bonuses, as it began offering $20,000 of stock grants in April. Walmart also kicked off a $9 billion project to upgrade and modernize more than 1,400 of its stores, representing more than a quarter of the total Walmart stores across the country.
The company said its average hourly wage is nearly $18, up by about 30% over the past five years. The starting pay in stores ranges from $14 to $19, depending on the location. Walmart raised its minimum wage in January 2023.
Yet Walmart, which reported about $648 billion in total revenue last year and has a market value of nearly $537 billion, still faces criticism for its wages. The company’s total annual compensation for the median employee was $27,642 in the most recent fiscal year, according to the company’s 2024 proxy report. For a family of four people, that falls below the poverty line of $31,200, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
That compares with the median compensation of $26,696 at Target and $36,274 at Amazon, according to those companies’ most recent proxy reports. Those calculations include part- and full-time workers.

Walmart’s new programs give employees more ways to move into higher-paying jobs. The company is piloting a six-month training program in the Dallas-Fort Worth area with 100 store and warehouse associates who want to work in skilled trades, such as technician roles for facilities maintenance, refrigeration and HVAC. Those skilled trade jobs pay between $19 and $45 per hour, said Lo Stomski, the company’s chief talent officer.
The initiative was inspired by a similar program for another high-demand role: truck drivers. The associate-to-driver program has produced more than 500 new drivers since launching in spring 2022, according to the company.
Workers who participate in the programs are not required to keep working for Walmart, but Stomski said they will be needed as Walmart adds automation and robotics across its warehouses and online fulfillment centers.
Walmart said Wednesday that it’s also increased the number of skills certificates it offers to more than 50, up from five in 2020. The certifications can help employees move into salaried or leadership positions in stores, clubs and supply chain facilities. On average, employees receive the certificates in four months, Stomski said.
This week’s announcement coincides with two of Walmart’s major events. Its shareholder meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday. On Friday in its hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, Walmart will throw its annual associates celebration, a combination of a pep rally and an employee awards program that draws thousands of workers from across the globe and features surprise celebrity appearances and musical performances.

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Archer Aviation said it received a key FAA certification that gets it closer to flying passengers.
United Airlines agreed to buy dozens of Archer’s eVTOL aircraft.
The company said it now working on getting its aircraft “Midnight” certified by the FAA.

Midnight, an all-electric aircraft from company Archer Aviation, is seen at the Salinas Municipal Airport in Salinas, California, on Aug. 2, 2023.
Carlos Barria | Reuters

The Federal Aviation Administration has granted Archer Aviation a key certification that gets the electric air taxi maker closer to eventually flying travelers, the company said Wednesday.
Archer is making electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs, and won orders and backing in 2021 from United Airlines, which says the new technology could reduce carbon emissions.

Carriers have been investing in or ordering eVTOL aircraft, which take off and land vertically like helicopters and whose developers say they can cut down on emissions in congested areas. United, for example, says passengers could take them to and from the airport in big cities, such as between Manhattan and United’s hub in Newark, New Jersey.
“Today we have received the Part 135 certification, which allows us to effectively become an airline so we can carry passengers,” Archer CEO Adam Goldstein told CNBC.
The process has taken Archer about two years: It submitted more than 2,000 pages of documents and 14 manuals outlining operational procedures, training and maintenance.
Now Archer has to get its four-passenger aircraft, called “Midnight,” certified by the FAA, which the company is currently working on, Goldstein said. That could put the air taxis into service as early as next year, the company estimates. Goldstein said he couldn’t give an exact time frame but when asked about certification delays on variants of older aircraft, he noted that Archer’s aircraft are much simpler with far fewer components than commercial jets.
Archer’s aircraft can fly up to 60 miles at top speeds of 150 mph.

United is working with Archer on what it would look like to enter the electric aircraft into service.
“This is not something that is a push of a button,” said Andrew Chang, managing director of United Airlines’ venture arm. “It’s matching how quickly [Archer] can progress the operational side and how to fit that within our airport hubs.”
Archer has partnered with automaker Stellantis to produce hundreds of the electric air taxis.
Archer’s rivals have also made strides. Joby Aviation received its Part 135 certificate two years ago, has a partnership with the U.S. Air Force, and has won orders and backing from Delta Air Lines. On Tuesday, Joby said it plans to acquire the autonomy division of autonomous aviation company Xwing.

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