ASTRONAUTS are hours away from blasting off on a Boeing rocket after years of delay.
Two Nasa astronauts will take a ride on Starliner towards the International Space Station (ISS).
The spacecraft has suffered numerous setbacks due to technical issues - a crewed mission was initially slated to take place in 2018.
It's a crucial moment for Boeing to prove that CST-100 Starliner is safe to make routine space trips in hopes of eventually taking people to Mars.
The trip will carry Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore, 61 and pilot Suni Williams, 58.
Andrew Tate 'tried to lure ex-Playboy model to Romanian lair' before his arrest
Wilmore is a retired Navy captain who's clocked some 178 days in space since his first of two space missions in 2009.
And Williams is a former Naval test pilot with experience flying over 30 different aircraft and 322 days under her belt spent in space over two missions since her first flight in 2007.
"I think it's going to be like going back home – both of us have lived there for six months and pretty much know the space station," Williams said.
Wilmore added: "I don't think either one of us ever dreamt that we'd be associated with the first flight of a brand-new spacecraft."
They will spend about a week in the ISS.
The aerospace giant has long been involved in Nasa's human spacecraft program, receiving more than $4billion to develop and fly the Starliner in 2014.
Boeing is competing with the likes of SpaceX to provide gear for future Nasa missions and has spent nearly $600million fixing engineering setbacks from the past mishaps.
CST-100 Starliner will finally take off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:34 pm local time tonight - which is the early hours of Tuesday in the UK, at 3:34am BST.
