Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth without a crew after problems occurred during the flight to the Space Station.
NASA and Boeing safely brought the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft back to earth after landing at 2:01 pm ET on September 6 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, concluding a three-month flight test around the International Space Station. Although it was necessary to bring the uncrewed spacecraft back, NASA and Boeing have in the extreme environment of space and during atmospheric reentry. NASA will continue to work with the Boeing team to proceed with the certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the International Space Station.
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Problems and return
The June 5 flight was on . It was the spacecraft’s third orbital flight and its second return from the orbiting laboratory. The Starliner will now be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for inspection and processing. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program requires a spacecraft to perform a crewed test flight to demonstrate that the system is ready for regular flights to and from the orbiting laboratory. After the spacecraft’s return, the agency will review all data related to the mission.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed June 5 aboard the Starliner for the agency’s Boeing Crewed Flight Test from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. On June 6, as the Starliner approached the space station, Boeing and Boeing identified helium leaks and encountered problems with the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters.
After weeks of tests in space and on the ground, technical exchange meetings and agency reviews, NASA had indeed decided to prioritize safety and return the Starliner without its crew. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work aboard the station as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew, returning in February 2025.
The crew flight test is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable and affordable transportation to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit. This is already providing additional research time and has increased discovery opportunities aboard humanity’s microgravity testbed, including helping NASA to and from Mars.
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