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Agence France-Presse

Reuters

Boeing’s problem-plagued Starliner landed uncrewed at White Sands Space Harbour in New Mexico late on Friday, capping a three-month test mission hobbled by technical issues that forced the astronauts it had flown to the International Space Station (ISS) to remain there until next year.
The spacecraft left the ISS earlier on Friday, bound for Earth without astronauts after Nasa deemed the risk too great.
The century-old aerospace giant’s reputation has taken a hammering over thruster malfunctions and helium leaks its spaceship encountered on its way up to the orbital outpost in June, and the US space agency’s subsequent decision to fly its crew back on a rival SpaceX Crew Dragon next year.
“It is time to bring Calypso home,” astronaut Suni Williams told mission control, using the spaceship’s nickname. “We have your back and you’ve got this, bring her back to Earth. Good luck.”
Starliner returned to Earth seemingly without a hitch, a Nasa live stream showed, nailing the critical final phase of its mission.
The spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at orbital speeds of roughly 27,400km/h. About 45 minutes later, it deployed a series of parachutes to slow its descent and inflated a set of airbags moments before touching down in the arid desert in New Mexico.

#Starliner has undocked from the @Space_Station and will begin its journey back to Earth.@NASA and @BoeingSpace are targeting approx. 12am ET Sept. 7 for the landing and conclusion of the Crew Flight Test mission at the White Sands Space Harbor, New Mexico landing site. pic.twitter.com/uB0DgmUUPW
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) September 6, 2024

Nasa opted to bring the ship home without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Williams despite Boeing’s assurances of a safe flight.
The company carried out extensive ground testing that aimed to replicate the technical hitches the spaceship had experienced on its ascent, and devised plans to prevent more problems.
In the end, however, Boeing could not convince Nasa it could be trusted to bring back the pair, who were originally meant to stay on the ISS for roughly a week as they tested out Starliner, but will now remain there until February 2025.
Wilmore and Williams, stocked with extra food and supplies on the ISS, will return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle in February. What was initially supposed to be an eight-day test has turned into an eight-month mission for the crew.
“Boeing believed in the model that they had created that tried to predict the thruster degradation for the rest of the flight,” Steve Stich, programme manager for Nasa’s Commercial Crew Programme, told reporters this week.
But “the Nasa team, due to the uncertainty in the modelling, could not get comfortable with that”, he added, characterising the mood during meetings as “tense”.

Shortly after undocking, Starliner performed a powerful “breakout burn” that shot it well clear of the station to prevent any chance of a collision – a manoeuvre that would have been unnecessary if it had crew aboard who could take manual control of the ship if needed.
Following that, mission teams conducted thorough checks of its thrusters in preparation for the critical “deorbit burn,” required to guide the capsule onto its re-entry path around 40 minutes before landing.
While expectations were high that Starliner would stick the landing, as it had in two previous uncrewed tests, Nasa will now carefully review all aspects of the mission’s performance before deciding on the next steps.
Stich emphasised that Nasa was focused on completing the immediate tasks at hand.
“When we do that, we’ll have a better understanding of when can we certify the vehicle and when can we resume flights,” he said.
Nasa awarded Boeing and SpaceX multibillion-dollar contracts a decade ago to develop spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS, following the retirement of the Space Shuttle.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, however, beat Boeing to the punch, successfully flying dozens of astronauts since 2020.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Space

Boeing’s troubled Starliner spaceship lands back on Earth without crew

Boeing’s Starliner approaching the landing site at White Sands Space Harbor in White Sands, New Mexico, without the astronauts it was supposed to be carrying. Photo: AFP

Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams pose in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in April. Photo: Reuters

Nasa explains away strange noise heard by astronaut in Boeing’s Starliner

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module forward port. Photo: Nasa / TNS

Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore, right, and Suni Williams. Photo: Reuters

Elon Musk’s SpaceX tightens its grip on Nasa by bringing Boeing crew home from ISS

Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla. Photo: Reuters

Astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station. Photo: Nasa/TNS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, ahead of a mission, that will carry out the first ever private spacewalk. Photo: AFP

SpaceX to bring Boeing’s Starliner astronauts back to Earth next year, Nasa says

The Boeing CST-100 Starliner is shown docked to the International Space Station. Image: Boeing via TNS

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June. Photo: Nasa via AP

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World

United States & Canada

Starliner’s smooth return was a relief for the aviation giant’s space ambitions after Nasa deemed it too risky to send astronauts home on it


Starliner’s smooth return was a relief for the aviation giant’s space ambitions after Nasa deemed it too risky to send astronauts home on it.


Boeing

SpaceX

International Space Station (ISS)

United States