CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Boeing and NASA have agreed to keep astronauts off the company's next Starliner flight and instead test-fly the cargo to prove its safety.
announcement on Monday eight months comes after the first and only Starliner crew returned to Earth aboard SpaceX after an extended mission. Although NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams managed to dock Starliner to the International Space Station in 2024, the capsule had so many problems that NASA ordered it to return empty, leaving the astronauts stranded there for more than nine months.
Since then, engineers have been studying the engine and other problems encountered by the Starliner capsule. The next cargo flight to the space station will not take place until April, after additional testing and certification.
Boeing said in a statement that it remains committed to the Starliner program, prioritizing safety.
NASA is also reducing the planned number of Starliner flights from six to four. If the cargo mission is successful, the remaining three Starliner flights will remain for crew exchanges before the space station is decommissioned in 2030.
“NASA and Boeing are continuing rigorous testing of the Starliner propulsion system in preparation for two potential flights next year,” NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said in a statement.
NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX in 2014—three years after the last space shuttle flight—to transport astronauts to and from the orbital station. The Boeing contract was worth $4.2 billion, and SpaceX was worth $2.6 billion.
Elon Musk's SpaceX launched its first astronaut mission for NASA in 2020. This summer marked the 12th crew launch for NASA.
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