KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The upcoming launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner will mark not just the first time the spacecraft has carried astronauts but also the first crewed launch of the Atlas 5, a vehicle approaching its retirement.

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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...