Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft to fly again

NASA and Boeing will try again with the troubled Starliner spacecraft, according to a statement issued by the U.S. space agency on Monday.

The Starliner has been years in development, and transported its first crew to the International Space Station (ISS) last year. But the mission was beset with problems, leaving two NASA astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — stuck at the orbital outpost for nearly nine months when they were only supposed to have stayed there for a matter of days.

Now, more than a year after the empty Starliner returned to Earth, and eight months after the crew returned home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, NASA has announced a modified contract with Boeing that slightly reduces the number of targeted crewed flights using the spacecraft.

The next Starliner flight — called Starliner-1 — will not carry any crew, and will instead transport cargo to the space station. It will also act as a test flight to evaluate the safety of the capsule for future astronaut flights to the ISS following upgrades made to the vehicle following last year’s challenging mission.

NASA and Boeing are targeting no earlier than April 2026 for the Starliner-1 flight. If that flight passes off without incident and the capsule’s critical systems are deemed to be in proper working order, the Starliner will fly up to three crew rotations to the ISS, the first of which could also take place in 2026.

“NASA and Boeing are continuing to rigorously test the Starliner propulsion system in preparation for two potential flights next year,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said in a post on NASA’s website on Monday. “This modification allows NASA and Boeing to focus on safely certifying the system in 2026, execute Starliner’s first crew rotation when ready, and align our ongoing flight planning for future Starliner missions based on station’s operational needs through 2030.”

The Boeing Starliner has had a difficult history, marked by multiple technical issues and delays.

Its inaugural uncrewed test flight in 2019 suffered a slew of software errors that prevented it from reaching the ISS, and resulted in years of work in a bid to put things right.

But the one and only crewed mission, which launched last year with Wilmore and Williams, also experienced issues that included valve malfunctions, thruster failures, and helium leaks. Despite efforts to put things right in orbit, NASA officials decided to bring the Starliner home empty over concerns that it wasn’t safe enough for a crewed trip.

The decision left Wilmore and Williams on the space station for nearly nine months when they’d expected to be there for a mere eight days.

Despite all the challenges, NASA and Boeing have stuck by the Starliner and are now giving it another chance in what will be closely watched mission.