Boeing Starliner returns empty, NASA uses SpaceX to transport astronauts

Boeing will return its Starliner capsule from the International Space Station without the NASA astronauts it launched into orbit in early June, the agency said Saturday.

With the Starliner returning to Earth empty, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will now return on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch its ninth regularly scheduled mission to the ISS for NASA on September 24.

Ultimately, Wilmore and Williams will stay on the ISS for about six months before flying home on SpaceX’s Crew 9 spacecraft in February. The test flight was originally scheduled to last about nine days.

The decision to return the Starliner empty from the ISS represents a dramatic reversal for NASA and Boeing, as the organizations previously insisted that the capsule was the first choice for crew return.

But the manned flight test of the Starliner, which was considered the last major milestone in the development of the spacecraft, encountered problems – especially with its propulsion system.

“Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to obtain the necessary data to make this decision,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference with senior NASA officials on Saturday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We want to better understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner can be an important part of our assured access to the ISS for our crew.”

He reiterated that test flights were “neither safe nor routine” and that the decision was the “result of a commitment to safety”.

NASA will now conduct another phase of its flight readiness review to determine when to bring the empty Starliner home.

Boeing officials had insisted in press conferences that Starliner was safe enough to fly the astronauts home in an emergency, even though the return has been postponed several times. NASA said there had been a “technical disagreement” between the agency and the aerospace company and said it assessed the risk to returning its crew differently than Boeing.

Still, NASA officials repeatedly expressed their support for Boeing, and Nelson said he was “100 percent confident” that the Starliner could one day launch again with a crew.

“We remain primarily focused on crew and spacecraft safety,” Boeing said in a statement posted on X on Saturday. “We are executing the mission as defined by NASA and preparing the spacecraft for a safe and successful uncrewed return.”

Ken Bowersox, NASA’s deputy administrator, said NASA officials unanimously decided to select SpaceX to transport the crew.

In the meantime, SpaceX will bring two astronauts on its Crew 9 vehicle – instead of the four originally planned – to make room for Wilmore and Williams.

“SpaceX is ready to support @NASA wherever we can,” President and COO Gwynne Shotwell responded to X in a social media post.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule “Calypso” had been on a mission to the International Space Station since early June, which NASA extended indefinitely as the agency and the company tried to determine why several of the spacecraft’s engines failed during docking.

These engines, part of the spacecraft’s propulsion system, are critical to the Starliner’s safe return from the ISS. NASA described the engines as an ongoing problem on Saturday.

The Starliner’s crewed flight test was meant to be a final point for Boeing and a major win for NASA. The agency hoped to realize its dream of having two rival companies – Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX – take turns flying missions to the ISS.

Rather, the flight test further sets back Boeing’s progress in NASA’s Commercial Crew program and jeopardizes the company’s future involvement in that program after the company has already sustained losses of more than $1.5 billion.