This comes after a weeklong mission to the ISS extended into an eight-month nightmare for two astronauts after the Starliner experienced thruster malfunctions during the trip to space. Since their blastoff on June 5, NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have been staying on the ISS alongside the Expedition 71 crew.

• READ MORE: NASA Explains Strange Noises Heard on Boeing Starliner

NASA announced in August that the crew would be returning via the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in February. They won’t be the first astronauts returning to Earth in a separate spacecraft than the one they launched from, though missions extended from unforeseen factors are rare. 

Returning the Starliner

NASA’s mission timeline posted on Thursday states that safety and mission success remains top priorities for teams during the Starliner’s return.

As the first American capsule designed to touch down on land, the Starliner will use potential landing locations in the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico; Willcox, Arizona; and Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. NASA said that Edwards Air Force Base in California is also available as a contingency landing site.

NASA said it analyzes weather predictions for the various landing sites, taking note of winds, ground temperatures, cloud ceiling height, visibility, precipitation, and nearby storms. When the teams start undocking, the Starliner will complete several departure burns. From there, the spacecraft is planned to reach its landing site in as little as six hours.

During this deorbit burn, a final weather check will commence.

• READ MORE: SpaceX—Not Boeing—Will Return Starliner Astronauts After Monthslong Mission

“Winds must be at or below 10 mph (9 knots),” NASA’s mission timeline said. “If winds exceed these limits, teams will waive the deorbit burn, and Starliner will target another landing attempt between 24 and 31 hours later.”

Assuming weather meets acceptable conditions, Starliner will execute its deorbit burn for approximately 60 seconds. This will slow it down enough to reenter earth’s atmosphere and land at its target site. Immediately after the deorbit burn, the spacecraft will reposition for service module disposal, which will burn up during reentry over the southern Pacific Ocean.

Reentry will see the capsule reach temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which may interrupt communications with the spacecraft for approximately four minutes. After this, the forward heat shield on top of the aircraft will be jettisoned and several parachutes will be deployed at 30,000 feet.

• READ MORE: NASA: Starliner Astronauts May Not Return Until February

As the aircraft continues to slow down, the base heat shield will jettison at 3,000 feet and cause six landing bags to inflate. The spacecraft will travel at approximately 4 mph at touchdown.

Recovery After Landing

After touchdown, several NASA and Boeing landing recovery teams stationed near Starliner’s landing site will move toward the spacecraft in sequential order:

• The gold team will use equipment to “sniff” the capsule for any hypergolic fuels that didn’t fully burn off before re-entry. They also cover the spacecraft’s thrusters.

• The silver team will then electrically ground and stabilize the Starliner.
• The green team will supply power and cooling to the crew module since the spacecraft will be powered down.
• The blue team will then document the recovery for public dissemination and future process review.
• The red team, which includes Boeing fire rescue, emergency medical technicians, and human factors engineers, then will open the Starliner hatch.

The teams will begin unloading time-critical cargo from the Starliner. The spacecraft will then be moved to Boeing facilities at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for refurbishment.

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NASA and Boeing are in the midst of the inaugural crew flight test (CFT) of Starliner, a semireusable vessel to the ISS under contract for agency service missions as soon as next year. But en route to the orbital laboratory, the spacecraft suffered several anomalies that have led teams to keep it on the ISS for further testing.

A preflight readiness review, during which crews would make a determination on Starliner’s return date, was expected last month but has since been pushed back, with no updates provided since last week.

NASA and Boeing last held a meeting to discuss Starliner’s issues with the media on July 25 and have insisted that the Boeing capsule will return the astronauts to Earth. However, as first reported by Ars Technica and confirmed by FLYING, it appears the space agency is considering enlisting SpaceX’s Dragon.

“NASA is evaluating all options for the return of agency astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station as safely as possible,” a NASA spokesperson told FLYING. “No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning.”

The statement is a marked shift from the agency’s tone thus far, which has been adamant about Starliner safely returning Wilmore and Williams.

While SpaceX’s Dragon is not mentioned by name, it is the only vehicle in NASA’s ISS Commercial Crew rotation program. Steve Stich, who manages the Commercial Crew program, previously said that there were no discussions between the agency and SpaceX about using Dragon as an alternative. However, NASA in July issued a task award for SpaceX to study flying Dragon with six passengers, rather than the typical four.

In theory, the spacecraft could accommodate the four-person crew of SpaceX’s upcoming Crew-9 mission in addition to Wilmore and Williams. NASA is reportedly also considering flying Crew-9 with two crewmembers, leaving room for the two astronauts on the ISS.

The problem, though, is that Crew-9 on Tuesday was delayed from August 18 to September 24 to give Starliner teams more time to finalize a return plan.

Multiple independent sources also told Ars Technica that Starliner’s onboard flight software is not currently capable of completing an automated undocking from the ISS—despite the capsule completing that maneuver during an uncrewed flight test in 2022—and could take nearly a month to be updated.

If the report is accurate, the software issue would compound Starliner’s existing problems, the most consequential being a set of misfiring thrusters.

Five reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on the spacecraft’s service module fired at lower levels than expected during the trip to the orbital laboratory. The thrusters have been tested on orbit and are now operating at or near expected levels, according to NASA.

But the agency continues to wrap up ground testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, where an identical thruster is being evaluated. It appears crews do not yet have full confidence in the thrusters’ performance, as evidenced by the delay to the flight readiness review.

NASA continues to tout safety as its highest priority for the CFT, but there are certainly some politics at play.

On July 25, Stich said NASA would like to see Starliner return Wilmore and Williams during the CFT, implying that another crewed test could be required for certification if it doesn’t. The CFT is intended to be the final test flight, but Stich previously acknowledged that certification could take longer than originally expected.

Boeing last week released a statement appearing to publicly pressure NASA, reiterating its confidence in the vessel as evidenced by the extensive testing that has been performed since it docked at the ISS.

Already, Starliner’s inaugural service mission has been delayed from February to August 2025, adding to the almost decade of setbacks the program has suffered. Adding to the headache, Boeing has reportedly spent $1.6B on Starliner so far.

The manufacturer has plenty of incentive to push for Wilmore and Williams’ return on the spacecraft. But at the same time, a failed mission would likely torpedo the program, leaving stakeholders with a difficult decision.

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The mission, Cygnus NG-21, is the space agency’s 21st commercial ISS resupply mission using the uncrewed Cygnus capsule built by contractor Northrop Grumman, which took over the spacecraft’s development after acquiring manufacturer Orbital ATK in 2018.

Cygnus spacecraft have completed nine missions under the company’s Commercial Resupply Services Phase 2 (CRS-2) contract with NASA and are scheduled for missions through 2026 after the agreement was extended in 2022. The total value of the CRS-2 contracts, which were also awarded to SpaceX and Sierra Space, is capped at $14 billion.

Cygnus’ 21st flight is targeted to launch at 11:28 a.m. EDT on Saturday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft is called the S.S. Richard “Dick” Scobee in honor of the astronaut who died while commanding the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Cygnus will arrive at the orbital laboratory on Monday, where NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick will use the ISS’ robotic arm to capture it with NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps serving as backup.

Carrying more than 8,200 pounds of supplies, the uncrewed spacecraft will launch atop SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 rocket for the second time after Northrop Grumman’s supply of Antares rockets, which rely on parts from Russia and Ukraine, was exhausted.

After docking to the ISS for six months, the expendable capsule in January will depart the space station and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA will host a prelaunch media session on Friday followed by launch coverage on Saturday and arrival coverage on Monday, all of which will be on the agency’s website, app, and YouTube channel.

The Cygnus capsule will carry research materials that will directly support experiments under NASA’s ISS Expeditions 71 and 72.

One test, for example, will use a penny, hex nut, and balloons to demonstrate centripetal force in microgravity. Researchers will also use special machines to produce human tissue and stem cells, test the effects of spaceflight on DNA, and study the movement of gas and liquid through a filter in zero gravity.

In total, the spacecraft will carry nearly 2,800 pounds worth of materials for scientific investigations, as well as 95 pounds worth of spacewalk equipment and two CubeSat satellites to be deployed from the ISS.

Cygnus spacecraft so far have delivered more than 138,000 pounds of equipment, science experiments, and supplies to the space station, according to Northrop Grumman.

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NASA in June awarded SpaceX a contract, worth up to $843 million, to design and build the U.S. deorbit vehicle (DV) that will drag the massive laboratory to its final resting place in a remote section of the ocean. No existing spacecraft has the capabilities required to complete the mission.

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, Dana Weigel, manager of the space agency’s ISS program, and Sarah Walker, director of mission management for SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, provided more details on the tall task at hand for SpaceX and predicted what the space station’s final days might look like.

According to Weigel, the U.S. DV contract is different from previous SpaceX contract awards. These have typically been end-to-end, where SpaceX oversees everything from launch through operation. This time, the manufacturer will simply deliver the vehicle for NASA’s use. The contract also has a dwell in storage requirement, which calls for SpaceX to deliver the DV early enough for NASA to perform checkouts prior to launch.

NASA will also need to secure a launch provider for the spacecraft. Walker on Wednesday appeared to throw SpaceX’s hat in that ring as well, saying the company would welcome the opportunity if it arose. NASA uses the firm’s Falcon 9 rocket routinely and has plans to deploy its Falcon Heavy model in the future.

Before Wednesday, little was known about the design of the deorbit vehicle. Officials revealed that it will be a heavily modified version of the company’s Cargo Dragon model, which flies routine ISS resupply missions, but with a specially designed trunk containing propellant, avionics, and more. Walker referred to it as “basically another spacecraft” that will be twice as large as a typical Dragon trunk. The capsule will be pulled from the existing Dragon fleet, and the trunk will be attached.

Walker said the DV will require six times as much useful propellant and three to four times as much power generation and storage. It will also need enough propellant to fly to orbit and operate for several months before completing its mission. By Weigel’s estimate, the vehicle will have a wet mass north of 30,000 kilograms.

NASA was lured by SpaceX’s proposal in part because Dragon is flight-proven hardware—in other words, the agency is familiar with the spacecraft and its systems. Like Dragon, the DV will feature SpaceX Draco engines—46 of them, with 16 on the capsule and 30 in the trunk. About 25 of these will fire at once during the final ISS reentry burn.

In another similarity to Dragon, the vehicle will include both manual and automated functions. Weigel said NASA expects to lose communications during the final four days or so of the mission, during which time the DV will need to manage all onboard tasks.

All of these requirements have driven up the spacecraft’s price, with Bowersox estimating it to be around $750 million. He said that NASA must secure a total of $1.5 billion to cover the DV, launch vehicle, and mission operation, and has asked for $180 million in a supplemental budget request to Congress. If it cannot secure the necessary funding, the money will need to come from NASA’s budget, which Bowersox said could affect ISS operations.

Officials said that projects as complex as the deorbit vehicle concept typically spend five to eight years in development. Per Weigel, the plan is to deorbit the ISS in 2030 for a splashdown in 2031, which would require the DV to launch about one and a half years earlier.

Most of the orbital lab is expected to melt, burn up, or vaporize during its controlled reentry. Weigel said teams have yet to determine where the wreckage will land but that it will be in a remote section of the ocean—potentially the South Pacific—within a narrow area 2,000 kilometers long. She characterized the operation as common for a vehicle as large as the ISS.

The DV will launch and dock to the ISS before the space station uses onboard propulsion to lower its orbit, allowing it to drift closer to Earth. Roscosmos Progress spacecraft may also assist in the maneuver.

Crews will vacate the lab about six months before its retirement. As the ISS approaches an altitude of 250 kilometers, the DV will place it on the proper trajectory and initiate one final burn to bring it home. It will use a massive amount of thrust—enough to drag the massive satellite while resisting drag from atmospheric forces.

Though the DV is being specially designed to deorbit the ISS, Walker did not rule out the possibility that it could find new life with NASA through future applications.

“Anything’s possible,” she said.

As for the ISS, Bowersox said crews will salvage as much as they can, including scientific instruments and mementos such as ship’s logs, despite there being no dedicated recovery mission. The station’s remnants will be divided among the U.S., Canada, Japan, Russia, and the European Union, whose space agencies have continuously occupied it for nearly a quarter of a century. The five agencies share responsibility for safely deorbiting the ISS.

According to Bowersox, all five partners agreed on the U.S. DV concept as the right spacecraft for the mission. However, the mission has not yet received formal approval and could be modified based on feedback.

The hope, Bowersox and Weigel said, is that the ISS deorbit timeline aligns with the launch of a new generation of commercial space stations. NASA has awarded contracts to four firms—Blue Origin, Axiom Space, Northrop Grumman, and Starlab Space, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus—to develop ISS replacements that will be open to federal agencies and private companies alike. The officials said they envision NASA eventually becoming one of many customers in a commercial space ecosystem.

Bowersox predicted that a further extension of the space station’s lifespan is unlikely. In the event that it is retired before commercial alternatives come online, he said NASA will take “whatever steps we could to minimize the impact of that gap.”

In the meantime, the space agency is focused on getting as much as they can out of the space station’s remaining lifecycle, including research that will inform Artemis missions to the moon and beyond. If the deorbit mission goes smoothly, NASA activities shouldn’t miss a beat.

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For the public, those were the first words heard from NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—the crew of the space agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT)—since they arrived at the orbital laboratory more than one month ago for an intended eight-day stay.

The Earth-to-orbit call between crew and NASA command was live streamed on the agency’s website. The event answered appeals from members of the media, made during a previous press conference, to see the astronauts on camera as concerns with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner—which brought them to the ISS—continue to linger.

The spacecraft is contending with two key problems: helium leaks and deactivated or underperforming thrusters. The issues are concentrated within the spacecraft’s service module, which aids in maneuvers such as docking and undocking with the ISS.

NASA and Boeing have indicated that Starliner has more than enough helium to make it home but are continuing to assess the root cause of the leaks. During a hot fire test after docking, four out of the five affected thrusters performed as expected. The fifth was deactivated for the remainder of the mission.

Williams and Wilmore recounted their trip to the space station and the moment they realized that Starliner’s thrusters were not firing at full power. They also sang the spacecraft’s praises, with Wilmore even saying he was tempted to award his first perfect rating for its handling performance.

Separately, NASA and Boeing representatives held a press conference to provide the latest on ongoing ground thruster testing at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Officials again did not provide a firm return date for Wilmore and Williams. But Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, estimated that testing could wrap up by the end of the month, after which point teams will iron out a timeline.

Engineers hope to conduct as many evaluations as possible while the semireusable spacecraft, designed to survive 10 missions, is in orbit. Starliner’s service module, the expendable component of the spacecraft, will be jettisoned and lost as it reenters Earth’s atmosphere.

Astronauts Phone Home

Williams and Wilmore on Wednesday made their long-awaited first appearance on camera since arriving at the ISS on June 6, recounting the CFT’s progress so far.

“Launch was spectacular,” Wilmore said, adding that the spacecraft performed “unbelievably well” during operational capability checks.

However, on the second day of their journey to the ISS, the astronauts could tell something was amiss. As Starliner approached the orbital lab, a total of five reaction control system (RCS) thrusters on its service module either turned off or did not fire at intended strength. Williams and Wilmore commandeered the capsule manually for about one hour as teams on the ground assessed the issue.

“From that point on, you could tell that the thrust was degraded,” Wilmore said. “But it was still impressive.”

Even with less-than-optimal performance, the thrusters completed what Wilmore described as a perfect maneuver as they navigated the final 10 meters to dock Starliner with the space station.

According to Williams, the astronauts talk with mission crews once per week to share and analyze the data they’ve collected. She highlighted the capsule’s ability to serve as a “safe haven” in the event of an ISS evacuation—a role it fulfilled last month after a Russian satellite broke up in orbit.

“We are having a great time here on the ISS,” said Williams. “I’m not complaining, Butch isn’t complaining, that we’re here for a couple extra weeks.”

One question NASA and Boeing have received is whether Starliner could bring Williams and Wilmore home right now. Officials insist it could, but only in an emergency situation that would require the ISS to be evacuated. The astronauts were asked about their confidence level in that scenario.

“I feel confident that, if we had to—if there was a problem with the International Space Station—we could get in the spacecraft and undock, talk with our team, and figure out the best way to come home,” said Williams.

She later added, “I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home no problem.”

Wilmore said he and his crewmate “trust the tests we are doing are the right ones we need to do to get us the right answers, to give us the data we need to come back,” adding that they are “absolutely ready” for a return based on current engineering data.

NASA could send a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule—which has completed all eight ISS Commercial Crew rotation missions to date—to retrieve the astronauts should Starliner’s issues persist. On Wednesday, Stich said the space agency has not yet opened those discussions with SpaceX, though he did not rule out the possibility.

The astronauts also described their view of Hurricane Beryl from space, saying that their families—who live in Texas and were in the storm’s path—are doing well. Wilmore said he is “90 percent sure” he could see the storm forming off the West coast of Africa days before it was named.

The 20-minute call concluded with some zero-gravity backflips by Williams and a big, smiling thumbs-up from Wilmore.

NASA, Boeing Share More Info

Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Commercial Crew program, addressed the media following the astronauts’ remarks.

According to Stich, Starliner will need to undock before mid-August, when SpaceX’s Crew-8 team swaps with the incoming Crew-9. Williams and Wilmore will need to return a few days before the Crew-9 launch window opens. Starliner remains a “go” for return in an emergency scenario, officials said. But they prefer to wait until ground testing is complete before attempting a by-the-books return,

Stich estimated that hot fire testing at White Sands could “optimistically” wrap up by the end of July, though it could be extended. Teams are working toward a nominal return flight readiness review, standard for crew rotation missions, that would give the green light to finish the mission as planned. 

Should more time be needed, NASA is in the process of approving a 45-day extension of the CFT, which is contingent on the health of Starliner’s batteries. According to Stich, those systems have shown no sign of wear and tear.

The goal of the test campaign is to recreate the firing pattern of one of Starliner’s faulty thrusters using an identical thruster—designed for a future mission—on the ground. Hot fire testing began on July 3, but Stich said crews have so far been unable to achieve the temperatures experienced by the thruster in orbit. Engineers believe the unusual firing pattern could be due to excess heat.

Teams will then attempt to predict how the thrusters might behave as Starliner undocks and flies home. Based on their learnings, they could modify the spacecraft’s flight path, deactivate certain thrusters, or fire them at different rates. Williams and Wilmore are capable of piloting Starliner manually if issues arise.

At the same time, Stich said White Sands personnel are evaluating the service module for Starliner’s inaugural crew rotation mission, Starliner-1, scheduled for February. The current service module has contended with a series of helium leaks, for which crews are attempting to uncover the root cause. Starliner-1’s service module won’t be redesigned, but Nappi said future models could incorporate changes based on the testing at White Sands.

The Outlook

Extended ISS stays are not necessarily uncommon, and the space station is designed to accommodate crew for months at a time if needed.

NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, for example, set a U.S. spaceflight record when his planned six-month mission was nearly doubled to 371 consecutive days aboard the orbital laboratory. Unlike Starliner, the Russian Soyuz capsule that ferried Rubio to the ISS was quickly ruled out as an emergency return vehicle, lending credence to the idea that Boeing’s issues are less severe.

However, NASA and Boeing face the added pressure of certification after close to a decade of delays to the Starliner program. In a prior press conference, Stich acknowledged that NASA and Boeing “understand it’s going to take a little bit longer” to certify Starliner than originally planned.

On Wednesday, the Commercial Crew manager said teams will decide between Starliner-1 or SpaceX Dragon’s Crew-10—which are booked for the same February launch window—once the CFT ends and postflight analysis is complete. The longer that takes, he said, the more likely it is that SpaceX will take over the mission.

Nappi agreed with that assessment, citing the need to understand and fix Starliner’s helium leaks as the biggest obstacle to certification.

NASA and Boeing said Wilmore and Williams will make one more Earth-to-orbit call before they depart the ISS, with more details to come.

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During a media briefing on Friday, NASA and Boeing representatives said the astronauts’ return to Earth will come after ground testing at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is complete. Teams are working to re-create some of the issues experienced by the reusable spacecraft during its inaugural crewed flight to the orbital laboratory.

According to Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program, Starliner was originally deemed safe for a stay as long as 45 days on the ISS. Crews are in the process of extending its battery life, which Stich said will keep the risk level manageable for another 45 days, at least.

However, he conceded that NASA and Boeing “understand it’s going to take a little bit longer” to certify Starliner than previously planned. The spacecraft is scheduled to fly its first service mission, Starliner-1, early next year. Officials said SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has completed all eight commercial crew rotation missions to the ISS to date, could take that slot.

“We’re not in any rush to come home,” Stich said Friday. “The risk for the next 45 days is essentially the same as for the first 45 days.”

Added Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate: “We have the luxury of time.”

Stich, Bowersox, and Mark Nappi, the manager of Boeing’s commercial crew program,  reiterated that “engineering data suggests” Starliner is safe to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth in the event of an emergency.

Officials also reported that the spacecraft is in “good shape” despite two lingering issues—a set of helium leaks and faulty thrusters.

A total of five helium leaks have sprung up on Starliner’s service module, which makes tiny maneuvers to the spacecraft to assist in docking and keep it in orbit. After testing the helium manifolds earlier this month, NASA found that leak rates had declined. Stich on Friday said those rates have not changed.

The other issue involves the service module’s thrusters, some of which did not fire at full strength en route to the ISS. These were also assessed earlier this month, and Stich said performance on all thrusters is between 80 and 100 percent.

It appears the thrusters are the main factor necessitating a longer mission for Starliner. As soon as Tuesday, engineers will begin testing an identical component at White Sands to re-create the firing pattern of one of the in-orbit thrusters. Officials said the campaign is expected to last several weeks and could be extended.

According to Nappi, teams want to keep Starliner in space for the evaluations because they could inform additional in-orbit tests or a modification of the spacecraft’s undocking procedure. He said crews do not yet understand the issue well enough to fix them permanently and that it would be “irresponsible” not to use additional time to conduct testing. Starliner’s crew module is reusable for up to 10 missions, but the service module will be jettisoned during the CFT.

Nappi said he has been in contact with Wilmore and Williams and that they remain in good spirits, describing Starliner as “pristine and precise.” The astronauts are able to communicate with their families daily and according to officials are not “stranded.”

On Wednesday, Starliner got another real-life test when an in-orbit satellite breakup created a debris field that hurtled toward the ISS. Wilmore and Williams tested the spacecraft’s ability to act as a “safe haven” in the case of a contingency on the space station, getting inside, powering it up, and sealing the hatch. They remained inside for an hour and according to officials were prepared to initiate an undocking if necessary.

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The space agency on Thursday announced it awarded SpaceX a contract, worth up to $843 million, to build a vehicle that will deorbit the space station when it is retired in 2030. At the end of the laboratory’s lifespan, NASA will use the SpaceX-built vehicle to bring it crashing down into a remote section of the Pacific Ocean.

The Biden administration in 2021 committed to extend ISS operations through the end of the decade. After that, it is planned to be replaced by an array of NASA-funded commercial space stations.

“Selecting a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle for the International Space Station will help NASA and its international partners ensure a safe and responsible transition in low Earth orbit at the end of station operations,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “This decision also supports NASA’s plans for future commercial destinations and allows for the continued use of space near Earth.”

Once the vehicle is developed, NASA will take over and oversee its operation. Like the ISS, it is expected to break up as it throttles toward the Earth. A launch service will be procured in the future—the agency currently uses SpaceX’s Falcon rocket to launch Commercial Crew rotation missions to the orbital laboratory.

Deorbiting the ISS will be the responsibility of the U.S., Canada, Japan, Russia, and member countries of the European Space Agency (ESA). Since 1998, the ESA, NASA, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and Russia’s Roscosmos have operated the space station, occupying it continuously for almost a quarter of a century.

In that time, it has been used to conduct microgravity experiments, test technologies that could be used to explore the moon and Mars, and, more recently, host commercial activities such as private astronaut missions.

According to an FAQ on NASA’s website, the agency expects itself to eventually become one of several customers, rather than a provider, of those services in a commercial space marketplace. As private companies take over low-Earth orbit operations, it will focus on flying humans to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

The first crewed lunar landing in the Artemis moon program, for example, is scheduled for September 2026. SpaceX is involved in that effort, too, developing the landing system that will put astronauts on the moon’s south pole.

NASA weighed several options for decommissioning the ISS, including a disassembly in space or boost to higher orbit, before settling on a controlled reentry. It will lower the station’s altitude using onboard propulsion before deploying SpaceX’s specially designed deorbit vehicle to bring it back into the atmosphere.

After lining up the debris footprint over an uninhabited area of the ocean, the space agency will give the all clear for one final burn. Most of the laboratory is expected to melt, burn up, or vaporize.

NASA in 2021 selected three private companies—Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, and Starlab Space, a joint venture between Voyager Space and Airbus—to develop free-flying commercial alternatives to the space station. The firms were awarded space act agreements totaling $415 million.

Another private partner, Axiom Space, is designing four modules that will attach to the ISS and later jettison to form another commercial space lab. The company is in the design review phase and is on schedule to launch its first module in 2026 under a contract worth up to $140 million.

All four spacecraft are expected to be operational before the end of the decade to ensure a smooth transition away from ISS operations, but NASA will first need to certify them.

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The mission, which has faced a series of setbacks since an initial launch attempt was scrubbed on May 6, is now targeted for 10:52 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, with a backup launch window available Thursday.

The Starliner CFT is intended to be the spacecraft’s final test flight before NASA moves to certify it for service missions to the ISS, the first of which could take place next year. To date, all eight Commercial Crew rotation missions to the orbital laboratory have been flown by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. 

The company signed its own multibillion-dollar contract with the space agency at the same time as Boeing but has already cemented itself as an invaluable partner. The same cannot be said for the aerospace giant, which has flown Starliner to the ISS just once.

CFT launch attempts have been delayed or scrubbed due to a litany of issues. First, it was a faulty pressure regulation valve on United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle, which will carry Starliner into orbit. Then, crews discovered a small helium leak on Starliner itself, involving one of the 28 reaction control system thrusters on its service module. These small engines use helium to make minor maneuvers and keep Starliner in orbit.

NASA and Boeing have since described the leak as stable but have opted not to repair it, which would require Starliner to be unstacked from Atlas V and could take months. However, in investigating the root cause of the leak, crews discovered what the space agency described as a “design vulnerability” in the capsule’s propulsion system.

In a scenario NASA estimates has a likelihood of about 0.77 percent, the original leak could combine with an adjacent leak to prevent Starliner from performing a deorbit burn. That’s the maneuver that returns a spacecraft to Earth’s atmosphere following its mission.

All of this work identifying and assessing risk pushed the CFT back to Saturday. But yet another problem forced a cancellation of the launch just a few minutes before takeoff—and made a second go-around on Sunday infeasible.

According to the Starliner team, the issue is again on ULA’s side of things.

During the countdown, ground support equipment on the pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida experienced issues, which crews traced to a power supply unit on one of three chassis on Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage. The power supply unit indirectly powers Centaur’s topping valves during the launch sequence, and all three chassis must be running in order for the countdown to be completed.

According to Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA, the chassis with the faulty power unit was quickly replaced. The new equipment has been retested and was functioning normally as of Sunday. NASA and Boeing added that they did not observe any physical damage to Starliner or Atlas V, and crews will perform a “full failure analysis” to determine what went wrong.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Starliner’s first human passengers, remain in quarantine at Kennedy Space Center. If all goes according to plan, Wilmore and Williams will dock with the ISS later this week. There, they will spend about one week performing tests of Starliner’s systems as NASA prepares for the program’s next step: certification.

After that, Starliner would begin alternating six-month Commercial Crew rotation missions with SpaceX’s Dragon.

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After postponing the previously announced May 25 launch attempt of the Starliner CFT on Tuesday, NASA on Wednesday said that it, Boeing, and launch provider United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are targeting no earlier than Saturday, June 1, at 12:25 p.m. EDT for the next attempt. Additional launch windows include Sunday, June 2, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6.

The postponement is the latest in a string of delays that have impacted the mission—and plagued the Starliner program more broadly—for years. An initial launch attempt was scrubbed hours before takeoff on May 6.

The setback follows the discovery of what NASA and Boeing described as a small helium leak on Starliner’s service module, which is designed to power and maneuver the autonomous spacecraft on its journey to the ISS.

According to NASA, Starliner teams have been meeting extensively to identify a new launch date, but further work remains. The agency said the current leak remains stable but that crews are now conducting follow-on performance and propulsion system assessments “to understand potential helium system impacts on some Starliner return scenarios.”

NASA will also perform a Flight Test Readiness Review to recap the work that has been done since May 6 and explain the rationale for attempting the next launch. A date for that review has not been identified but will be announced once selected, it said.

“It has been important that we take our time to understand all the complexities of each issue, including the redundant capabilities of the Starliner propulsion system and any implications to our Interim Human Rating Certification,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew program. “We will launch [astronauts] Butch [Wilmore] and Suni [Williams] on this test mission after the entire community has reviewed the teams’ progress and flight rationale at the upcoming Delta Agency Flight Test Readiness Review.”

NASA views Starliner as an alternative to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon for missions to low-Earth orbit. Dragon has flown each of the space agency’s eight Commercial Crew rotation missions, ferrying astronauts to and from the ISS, and will facilitate the upcoming Crew-9 mission scheduled for August.

But NASA wants to keep two reusable spacecraft in its fleet in case of a contingency, such as the incident that stranded astronaut Frank Rubio on the orbital laboratory for six months.

Boeing and SpaceX in 2014 each signed multibillion-dollar contracts with the agency to secure test flights and several Commercial Crew missions for their respective vessels. SpaceX has since expanded its arrangement multiple times, while Starliner—which is under contract for six flights—has languished in the development phase.

The Starliner CFT is intended to be the spacecraft’s final test flight before NASA certifies it for Commercial Crew rotation flights. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft’s first commercial mission to the ISS, Starliner-1, could take place next year. But the delays continue to pile up.

The mission was initially scrubbed due to an oscillating pressure regulation valve on ULA’s Atlas V rocket, which will send Starliner into orbit. The partners set a new target launch date of May 10, later revising it to May 17 to give crews additional time to resolve the issue.

Then, last week, teams discovered a new problem—this time involving a helium leak on one of the Starliner capsule’s 28 reaction control system thrusters. Helium allows the thrusters to fire and make minor maneuvers in orbit. As a result, the launch was pushed to no earlier than Tuesday, a timeline that was then revised yet again to Saturday.

With Wednesday’s announcement, the partners are now nearly one month behind schedule, placing the Starliner team in a bind. On one hand, the safety of the astronauts must be prioritized. But on the other, there is some pressure to launch sooner rather than later.

As Ars Technica’s Stephen Clark notes, the ISS docking schedule gets a bit crowded after July, so there is some pressure for Starliner teams to launch sooner rather than later. In addition, Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida—from where Starliner will launch—is used by ULA for other Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur launches.

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The post NASA, Boeing Forgo Starliner Crewed Flight Test Until June Earliest appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The problem with the relief valve on the upper stage of the Atlas rocket was detected about two hours before the scheduled 10:34 p.m. EDT launch from Cape Canaveral.

“In a situation like this, if we see any data signature is not something that we have seen before, then we are just simply not willing to take any chances with what is our most precious payload,” United Launch Alliance spokesman Dillon Rice told reporters.

ULA is providing the rocket to boost the capsule into orbit for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS).

* READ MORE: What to Know About Boeing Starliner’s First Crewed Test Flight 

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had just strapped in when the decision to scrub was made. It’s not known how long it will take to fix the valve.

It’s the latest in a series of issues encountered getting the Starliner to space, although this is the first issue with the launch system. The first uncrewed test launch of the capsule in 2019 failed to get to the right orbit for the ISS. The second test reached the space station, but after it returned problems were found with the parachutes and flammable tape was discovered in the electrical system.

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

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