Starliner launched 1 year ago on failed mission. What's next for NASA, Boeing?
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Starliner astronauts reflect on extended mission in space
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore discussed their extended stay aboard the International Space Station.
On June 5, 2024, the Starliner got off the ground from Florida with two experienced NASA astronauts aboard for what was to be a brief trip to the International Space Station.
But issues with the spacecraft prompted NASA to undock it without its crew.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams ultimately spent more than nine months and 280 days in orbit as part of NASA's contingency plan to get them back home.
The first human spaceflight for Boeing's Starliner made headlines for all the wrong reasons. But one year after its launch, it appears neither Boeing nor NASA have given up the spacecraft.
On June 5, 2024, the Starliner got off the ground from Florida with two experienced NASA astronauts aboard for what was to be a brief trip to the International Space Station. Days then stretched into months after mission engineers noticed that the vehicle had encountered a slew of mechanical issues during its orbital voyage.
As a result, the Starliner's crew, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, spent more than nine months and 280 days in orbit as part of NASA's contingency plan to get them back home.
While the flight test went far from according to plan, both NASA and Boeing have given signs that there's still hope for the Starliner to fly again – following a lot more development, no doubt.
Here's what to know about the Starliner mission and what's next for Boeing and NASA.
Boeing Starliner: On anniversary of Starliner's doomed launch, look back at the mission's biggest moments
What is the Boeing Starliner? Why NASA wants to certify vehicle
Boeing is developing the Starliner spacecraft with the goal of it becoming a second operational vehicle for NASA to transport crews and cargo to the space station.
The missions would be contracted under the U.S. space agency's commercial crew program, under which NASA pays private companies to conduct orbital spaceflights using their own commercial vehicles.
SpaceX has already been making routine trips since 2020 to the space station under the program using its Dragon capsule. Standing nearly 27 feet tall and about 13 feet wide, Dragon capsules can carry up to seven astronauts into orbit, though most of SpaceX's Crew missions feature a contingent of four.
The Crew missions launch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket – one of the most active in the world – from NASA's Kennedy Space Center inFlorida.
What happened to the Boeing Starliner, 'stuck' astronauts?
As the two astronauts selected for the Starliner's maiden crewed flight test, Wilmore and Williams launched June 5, 2024 on a mission to test a vehicle intended to one day join the SpaceX Dragon in transporting NASA astronauts to orbit.
The astronauts reached the International Space Station a day after launching, where they were expected to remain for about 10 days before returning home.
But the mission ended in failure when a slew of technical issues with the spacecraft prompted NASA to determine that the Starliner was not able to safely transport its crew back to Earth. Instead, Wilmore and Williams had no choice but to watch the spacecraft that brought them to the station undock Sept. 6 without them to make an autonomous landing in New Mexico.
Under a plan NASA announced in August 2024, a SpaceX Dragon that was already due to reach the space station on a mission of its own was selected as the vehicle to ferry Wilmore and Williams home. That mission launched as planned in late-September, but with one crucial change: Just two astronauts were on board the Dragon instead of four to leave two extra seats for Wilmore and Williams.
That meant the astronauts who crewed the Starliner were due to remain at the station for a few extra months as Crew-9 spacefarers, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, completed their six-month mission.
Then, once the Crew-10 replacement mission arrived March 15, the stage was set for the original Starliner crew members to finally return to Earth. The SpaceX Dragon vehicle carrying Wilmore, Williams, Hague and Gorbunov made a parachute-assisted water landing March 19 off the coast of Florida.
What's next for Boeing, NASA in Starliner development?
As of late March, NASA was moving ahead with plans to work with Boeing toward making Starliner operational.
The aerospace company had plans to conduct more tests this summer at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico while making modifications to the vehicle to prepare it for routine spaceflight, NASA officials have said. That includes fixing the thruster issues from the first crewed spaceflight and conducting more propulsion system testing.
Teams have also been testing new methods for sealing the helium system to mitigate the risk of future leaks, NASA said in a March 27 blog post – its last public update about the Starliner spacecraft. The USA TODAY Network has reached out to NASA for more information on the status of Starliner.
An independent watchdog report further determined in its 2024 report that other problems with Starliner also require modification before it can be certified. That includes a battery redesign plan and work to strengthen the landing airbag backing panel.
"NASA is seeing the commitment from Boeing to adding the Starliner system to the nation's crew transportation base," Ken Bowersox, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, said in a March statement.
But when Starliner could next fly – with or without a crew – remains to be determined.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
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