Date Set For Boeing's Starliner To Attempt Uncrewed Return To Earth

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is set to undock from the International Space Station on Friday (September 6) and return to Earth without any astronauts onboard, NASA announced. The uncrewed departure is contingent on clear weather forecasts at the landing site in New Mexico. The journey back to Earth is expected to last around six hours, culminating in a landing at New Mexico’s White Sands Space Harbor early Saturday morning.

The return flight marks the final phase of a test flight that encountered several issues. The mission, Starliner's first crewed trip to space, was intended to demonstrate Boeing's ability to reliably transport astronauts to and from the ISS. However, after launching NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams on June 5, problems arose with several of the spacecraft’s thrusters, and leaking helium was detected in its propulsion system.

These issues led NASA to keep Starliner and the astronauts on the ISS for months longer than expected as engineers on the ground investigated the malfunctions. Ultimately, NASA decided that the Starliner capsule would fly back to Earth without anyone onboard , while Wilmore and Williams wait to return on a SpaceX capsule in February.

Steve Stich , manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said, “I’m personally looking very forward to getting Starliner back. We’ve learned a lot on this test flight, but we’ll continue to learn more, I’m sure, through the undock and the de-orbit phase.”

The undocking process will be slightly different than it would be with astronauts onboard, with the capsule moving up and away from the space station more quickly. This is largely to protect the space station in case something goes wrong, and because astronauts will not be onboard to take manual control of the spacecraft, if necessary.