After more than three months in space, the crewed flight test (CFT) of Boeing’s Starliner has finally concluded. The Starliner spacecraft successfully landed over the weekend.
Despite the issues encountered during its journey to the International Space Station (ISS), Starliner’s uncrewed landing proceeded as expected, with the spacecraft touching down precisely as NASA and Boeing had designed for its delayed return.
Boeing and NASA spent the past three months conducting tests at White Sands, trying to replicate and understand the propulsion problems that the Starliner spacecraft faced in space.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuting down from above. (Photo: NASA TV).
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Starliner on June 4, originally scheduled to remain in orbit for an additional week.
The CFT Mission is the final qualification flight of Starliner before it begins operational missions as a crew transport vehicle to the ISS.
However, propulsion issues as the spacecraft approached the ISS forced Starliner to delay its return by three months, ultimately returning without any astronauts on board.
Uncrewed Return of the Spacecraft
NASA announced the decision to allow Starliner to return uncrewed at the end of August, redirecting astronauts Wilmore and Williams to participate in Expedition 71 to the ISS.
This required NASA to leave two seats empty on the Crew Dragon spacecraft during SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission for NASA later this month, allowing Wilmore and Williams to return home on Crew-9 in February of next year. As a result, the two astronauts will return home after 10 months on the space station, instead of the ten days originally planned.
The future path for the Starliner spacecraft remains unclear. This spacecraft was initially slated to begin six-month missions to the ISS starting in February next year, but this has been postponed to as early as August 2025.
