What’s Next for Boeing Starliner?

NASA is considering flying the capsule without a crew on its next test flight.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at 04:50 PM ET

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Boeing’s Starliner capsule undocks from the International Space Station (ISS) in September without Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the crew of its inaugural crew flight test (CFT). [Courtesy: NASA]

Key Takeaways:

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon capsule, not the Boeing Starliner spacecraft that originally took them to the ISS, due to Starliner experiencing significant technical issues.
Boeing's Starliner program faces an uncertain future, with NASA investigating helium leaks and thruster problems that prevented it from bringing the astronauts back, delaying its certification for routine crew rotation missions.
The incident underscored the importance of NASA's strategy to have redundant commercial crew transport capabilities, as SpaceX's Dragon stepped in when Starliner encountered difficulties.
Despite over $2 billion in losses, Boeing is reportedly committed to resolving Starliner's issues and making necessary changes to its propulsion system to achieve certification for future crewed flights.

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After 268 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams made their highly anticipated return to Earth on Tuesday evening. But while they are back on solid ground, the vehicle that flew them to the orbital laboratory faces an uncertain future.

Wilmore and Williams were commander and pilot, respectively, for the inaugural crew flight test (CFT) of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which the company is developing under a multibillion-dollar NASA contract. The brief mission was extended after engineers uncovered helium leaks and thruster issues with Starliner, which returned to Earth empty in September, prompting NASA to enlist SpaceX for the astronauts’ return flight.

Jack Daleo

Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.