OSIRIS-REx launch as seen from NASA Press Site

A collection chamber that could contain more than 2 pounds of samples gathered from an asteroid in deep space last week has been sealed inside of a return capsule on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to bring the extraterrestrial specimens back to Earth in 2023, officials announced Thursday.

Boeing officials said Monday the company’s Starliner crew capsule will fly a second time without astronauts after software problems and other issues plagued a first test flight in December, preventing the ship from reaching the International Space Station.

The Leo Atlas 07 mission was the second to last flight that Amazon booked on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Liftoff from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 7:53 p.m. EDT (2353 UTC).