NASA has announced plans to use Boeing’s troubled spacecraft on missions
The U.S. space agency NASA has announced plans for new missions that will use Boeing’s reusable Starliner spacecraft.
“We have worked closely with Boeing to address the issues identified during previous Starliner flights, and we look forward to returning this spacecraft to flight to support the International Space Station and future commercial missions,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
The Starliner was last used in June 2024 to deliver astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to the ISS. The mission was originally planned to last only 8–14 days, but the spacecraft’s propulsion system malfunctioned while in orbit, making it impossible to use it to return the astronauts to Earth. As a result, the astronauts remained aboard the ISS for nine months. They were returned to Earth as part of the Crew Dragon crew.
The first Starliner mission, scheduled for no earlier than December, will be unmanned. The spacecraft will once again travel to the ISS “to verify the effectiveness of improvements made to the spacecraft’s design,” Mr. Isaacman said. NASA plans to conduct the crewed Starliner-2 mission in 2028.
Starliner’s return to flight involves a phased testing program following serious malfunctions, rather than an immediate resumption of crewed missions. During the 2024 flight, four of the spacecraft’s engines failed, and five leaks—including helium leaks—were subsequently discovered; the malfunctions could not be resolved before the crew’s return, so the spacecraft returned autonomously.
The risks were not limited to isolated malfunctions. A NASA investigation identified deficiencies in Boeing’s systems engineering and equipment integration as one of the main causes, and the most alarming issue was the flight management structure, in which the program’s viability took priority over safety.
Therefore, an uncrewed flight to the ISS must confirm that the implemented changes are effective before the Starliner is cleared to carry a crew again.