Boeing’s Starliner Returns to Earth Without Astronauts After NASA Rules Trip Too Risky

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft made its anticipated return to Earth on Saturday, but the astronauts it was meant to bring back from the International Space Station (ISS) weren’t on board. NASA determined that returning them on the spacecraft posed too much risk due to technical issues.

Originally, the Starliner was launched in June for a roughly weeklong test mission, which was meant to be the final step before being certified to transport astronauts to and from the ISS. However, technical problems during the flight, including thruster malfunctions and helium leaks, forced NASA to rethink their plans. Rather than risking the astronauts’ safety on the malfunctioning Starliner, NASA decided that crew members Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would return on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. However, they’ll have to wait until February 2025 for that trip.

The Boeing capsule, shaped like a gumdrop, landed softly at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 4:01 AM GMT on Saturday. Its descent was slowed by parachutes and cushioned by airbags, after it left the ISS about six hours earlier. As it entered the Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft generated sonic booms that could be heard by ground teams. The Starliner endured extreme heat during its reentry, with temperatures reaching 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius).

NASA officials praised Boeing’s effort during a post-flight press conference, though representatives from Boeing were notably absent. “It was a bullseye landing,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager. “The entry in particular has been darn near flawless.” However, Stich admitted that there were some new issues, including the failure of a newly installed thruster and the temporary loss of the spacecraft’s guidance system during the return.

At the moment, it’s unclear whether the next Starliner flight, scheduled for August next year, will have astronauts on board. Stich emphasized that NASA needed time to assess the data collected during this mission and determine what design or operational changes were necessary for the spacecraft’s future flights.

Prior to the return flight, Boeing conducted rigorous ground tests to address the issues that had arisen during Starliner’s journey to the ISS. The company assured NASA that it could safely bring the astronauts back, both in public statements and in internal discussions. Despite these assurances, NASA ultimately decided that it wasn’t worth the risk.

When asked whether he still supported NASA’s decision to keep the flight uncrewed, Stich said, “It’s always hard to have that retrospective look. We made the decision to have an uncrewed flight based on what we knew at the time and based on our knowledge of the thrusters and based on the modeling that we had.”

A History of Setbacks

Even though no astronauts were aboard for this return trip, the stakes were high for Boeing, a company with a century-long history in aerospace. In recent years, Boeing’s reputation has taken a hit due to safety concerns surrounding its commercial aircraft, and its future in crewed space missions seemed uncertain.

After the spacecraft undocked from the ISS, Starliner performed a powerful “breakout burn,” which quickly moved it away from the space station to prevent any chance of collision. This maneuver wouldn’t have been necessary if astronauts had been on board to manually control the spacecraft in case of an emergency.

Mission teams then carefully monitored the performance of the thrusters needed for the “deorbit burn,” a crucial maneuver that set the capsule on its path back to Earth. This burn took place about 40 minutes before the capsule’s touchdown. While the Starliner’s landing was widely expected to be successful — as it had landed safely on two previous uncrewed test flights — the program still faces significant delays.

NASA first awarded Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts in 2014 to develop spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the ISS. These contracts came after NASA’s Space Shuttle program ended, leaving the agency reliant on Russian rockets to send crew members to space.

Initially, Boeing was seen as the frontrunner in this competition. However, SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, rapidly pulled ahead. Since 2020, SpaceX has successfully flown dozens of astronauts to the ISS aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft. Boeing’s Starliner, in contrast, has been plagued by technical problems and delays.

In 2019, the Starliner failed to reach the ISS during its first uncrewed test flight due to a software glitch. The following year, during another test, flammable tape was discovered in the spacecraft’s cabin. These issues, along with the thruster malfunctions and leaks in the current mission, have cast doubt on the Starliner program’s future.

With the ISS expected to be decommissioned by 2030, the clock is ticking for Starliner to prove its capabilities. If Boeing can’t get the spacecraft fully operational soon, it will have fewer opportunities to demonstrate its value before the ISS is retired.