The image shows Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked to the International Space Station on June 13, 2024 and orbiting over the Egyptian Mediterranean coast.
NASA
Boeing will return its capsule from the International Space Station without the NASA astronauts that carried Starliner into orbit, the agency said Saturday.
The decision to return the Starliner from the ISS without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams represents a dramatic reversal for NASA and Boeing, as the organizations previously insisted that the capsule was the first choice for crew return.
But the manned flight test of the Starliner, which was considered the last major milestone in the development of the spacecraft, encountered problems – especially with its propulsion system.
With the Starliner returning to Earth empty, NASA’s astronauts will now be sent back via SpaceX. SpaceX is scheduled to launch its ninth regularly scheduled mission to the International Space Station for the agency on September 24.
Ultimately, Wilmore and Williams will stay on the ISS for about six months before flying home in February.
“Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to obtain the necessary data to make this decision,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference with senior NASA officials in Houston on Saturday. “We want to better understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner can be an important part of our assured access to the ISS for our crew.”
He reiterated that test flights were “neither safe nor routine” and that the decision was the “result of a commitment to safety”.
NASA will now conduct another phase of its flight readiness review to determine when to bring the empty Starliner home.
In the meantime, SpaceX will bring two astronauts on its Crew 9 vehicle – instead of the four originally planned – to make room for Wilmore and Williams.
Boeing’s Starliner capsule “Calypso” had been on a mission to the International Space Station since early June, which NASA extended indefinitely as the agency and the company tried to determine why several of the spacecraft’s engines failed during docking.
These engines, part of the spacecraft’s propulsion system, are critical to the Starliner’s safe return from the ISS. NASA described the engines as an ongoing problem on Saturday.
Originally, the Starliner crew flight test was supposed to last about nine days. It was supposed to be the final point for Boeing and a major win for NASA, which hoped to realize its dream of having two competing companies – Boeing and SpaceX – take turns flying missions to the ISS.
Rather, the flight test further sets back Boeing’s progress in NASA’s Commercial Crew program and jeopardizes the company’s future involvement in that program after the company has already sustained losses of more than $1.5 billion.
This story is developing. Please check back later for updates.
