Boeing’s Starliner capsule made a successful return to Earth over the weekend, marking a key moment in a mission marred by technical failures and delays. After departing from the International Space Station six hours earlier, the spacecraft parachuted into New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, landing on autopilot in the desert darkness. While the landing was smooth, it followed months of drama, beginning with a June launch that should have been completed within eight days but extended into a lengthy mission due to persistent thruster malfunctions and helium leaks.
The mission, which carried Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the ISS in June, was intended as Boeing’s long-awaited crew debut.However, following a series of malfunctions aboard Starliner, Nasa ruled the capsule too risky for the astronauts’ return, opting to bring them home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in 2025 instead. This decision meant the astronauts would remain aboard the ISS until February, nearly eight months longer than originally planned.
Despite the technical setbacks, Nasa’s commercial crew program manager, Steve Stich, praised the uncrewed capsule’s performance, describing the return as a “bullseye landing.” Cameras on the ISS and Nasa planes captured Starliner’s descent, drawing cheers as it streaked through the night sky before touching down. However, the return was not without further issues, as Nasa later confirmed another thruster had malfunctioned during reentry, and a brief blackout of the guidance system occurred.
“I think we made the right decision not to have Butch and Suni on board,” Stich said during a news conference, adding, “All of us feel happy about the successful landing. But then there’s a piece of us, all of us, that we wish it would have been the way we had planned it.”
The capsule’s return followed extensive testing by Boeing, which had argued that Starliner was safe to bring the astronauts home. Nasa, however, remained unconvinced, ultimately deciding to delay their return and use SpaceX instead. Addressing the decision, Stich explained that if Nasa had known then what it witnessed during the uncrewed landing, their initial call would have been easier. “We didn’t have that level of certainty,” Stich said, reiterating that the mission was, after all, “a test flight.”
Nasa officials have maintained their commitment to safety as the organisation’s “core value and North Star.” Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson stated in August, “Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety.”
Ken Bowersox, Nasa’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, also emphasised that while it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, Nasa and Boeing gained invaluable insights from the mission. “Nasa and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible,” he said.
Starliner’s journey has been filled with delays and challenges. Following the retirement of the space shuttles over a decade ago, Nasa hired Boeing and SpaceX to provide crew transport to the ISS. However, Boeing has faced numerous setbacks, including a failed test flight in 2019, which had to be repeated in 2022 after further flaws were discovered, pushing the repair bill over $1 billion.
Even on this mission, Starliner encountered difficulties shortly after launch. Before it even reached space, the spacecraft experienced helium leaks, and five thrusters failed during its journey to the ISS. Although most of the thrusters recovered, the malfunctions raised concerns that more problems could surface during the capsule’s descent from orbit.
While Boeing conducted further tests over the summer, Nasa remained uncomfortable with the thruster issues and opted for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon as a safer alternative for Wilmore and Williams’ return.
Despite the successful landing, Boeing’s future with Starliner remains uncertain. Some industry experts, including Ron Epstein, an aerospace and defence analyst at Bank of America, have speculated that Boeing may reconsider its involvement in manned spaceflight due to the capsule’s history of delays and cost overruns. “We would not be surprised if Boeing were to divest the manned spaceflight business,” Epstein said.
As Starliner is transported back to Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center for analysis, Stich noted it is still too early to determine when the next crewed flight for the capsule might occur. “It will take a little time to determine the path forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wilmore and Williams are expected to give a news conference from the ISS on September 13.