SpaceX will return Boeing's Starliner astronauts to space next year, NASA says via Reuters
Written by Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two NASA astronauts who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard Boeing's (NYSE: ) faulty Starliner capsule will have to return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early next year, NASA CEO Bill Nelson said on Saturday. sees problems with the Starliner's pilot system too dangerous to carry its first team home.
The agency's decision, affecting Boeing's top competitor in space to return astronauts, is one of the consequences of NASA in recent years. Boeing had hoped that its Starliner test mission would rescue the troubled program after years of development problems and a budget deficit of more than $1.6 billion as of 2016.
Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, both former military test pilots, became the first crew to board the Starliner on June 5 when it launched from the ISS on what is expected to be an eight-day test mission.
But the Starliner propulsion system encountered a series of problems starting in the first 24 hours of the flight to the ISS, causing months of delays. Five of its 28 thrusters failed and there were frequent leaks of helium, which is used to pressurize the thrusters.
In a rare change to NASA's astronaut operations, the two astronauts are now expected to return in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that will launch next month as part of a routine orbit mission. Two of the four Crew Dragon seats will be kept empty for Wilmore and Williams.
“I know this is not a decision we were hoping for, but we are ready to take the necessary action to support NASA's decision,” Boeing Starliner CEO Mark Nappi said in an email to company employees following NASA's decision.
“The focus remains on ensuring the safety of the crew and the spacecraft,” Nappi said.
Nelson, speaking to reporters at a press conference in Houston, said he discussed the agency's decision with Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg.
“He told me the intention was that they would continue to fix the problems once the Starliner was back safely,” Nelson said of Ortberg.
Boeing also faces quality problems in the production of commercial aircraft, its most important products.
Starliner will leave the ISS without a crew “in early September,” NASA said in a statement. The spacecraft will try to return to Earth automatically, so it will not fulfill its purpose of having the crew on board and controlling the return journey.
Boeing has struggled for years to develop the Starliner, a gumdrop-shaped capsule designed to compete with Crew Dragon as the US's second choice for sending astronauts to and from Earth orbit.
The Starliner failed the 2019 test to launch the ISS without work, but was more successful in the attempt to do it over in 2022 when it again encountered thruster problems. Its June mission with its first crew was required before NASA could certify the capsule for regular flight, but now the certification process for the Starliner crew has been stepped up.
Since the Starliner arrived at the ISS in June, Boeing has tried to investigate what caused its malfunction and helium leak. The company organized tests and simulations on Earth to gather data that it used to try to convince NASA officials that the Starliner was safe to fly back home.
But the results of that test raised serious engineering questions and ultimately failed to ease NASA officials' concerns about Starliner's ability to make its crewed return trip — the most difficult and complex part of the test mission.
NASA's decision, along with Starliner's now uncertain path to certification, will add to the problems facing Ortberg, who began this month to rebuild the plane's reputation after a door panel spectacularly exploded on the 737 MAX passenger jet mid-air in January.
