WASHINGTON - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and The Boeing Company in Arlington County, Va., announced that the aerospace giant's Starliner spacecraft safely touched down - uncrewed - at White Sands Space Harbor in N.M.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams embarked on their mission aboard the Starliner spacecraft on 5 June, which launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Fla. as part of the Boeing Crewed Flight Test. The following day, as Starliner neared the International Space Station (ISS), both NASA and Boeing detected helium leaks and encountered problems with the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters.
After weeks of in-space and ground-based testing, along with technical discussions and agency assessments, NASA ultimately decided to prioritize crew safety and return the Starliner to Earth without its crew. Wilmore and Williams will remain aboard the space station as part of the Expedition 71/72 mission, with plans to return in February 2025 via NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
"I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return," said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible. NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station."
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program requires a spacecraft to fly a crewed test flight to prove the system is ready for regular flights to and from the orbiting laboratory. Following Starliner’s return, the agency will review all mission-related data.
“We are excited to have Starliner home safely. This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “There was a lot of valuable learning that will enable our long-term success. I want to commend the entire team for their hard work and dedication over the past three months.”
