The Boeing Starliner crew may have to wait until 2025 to return from the International Space Station (ISS), NASA officials said Wednesday.
The administration suggested at a press conference that they may need to use Boeing’s competitor, SpaceX, to return astronauts Suni Wiliams and Butch Wilmore back to Earth. Officials said that if Starliner is unable to return from the ISS, the pair could return on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025.
“We could go either way,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “And reasonable people could choose either path, depending on where their view is, our position, and the uncertainty threshold we have for the data we have about the propulsion system, about the propulsion system.”
Starliner launched its test crew mission on June 5 after a series of delays caused by leaks and thruster problems. This marked the first time the company launched a manned mission into space.
While trying to dock with the ISS in June, five of the 28 thrusters fell off. The mission was initially supposed to last around 8 days, but there is still no official return date for Wiliams and Wilmore after the problems.
NASA said it is in talks with SpaceX to leave two seats vacant on its upcoming Crew Dragon launch in September, preparing them for a possible return next year. NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said the best option is still to return the astronauts on the Starliner.
“You know, our main option is to return Butch and Suni to the Starliner,” Stich said. “However, we have done the necessary planning to ensure we have other options open and so we have been working with SpaceX to ensure they are ready to respond on Crew Nine for a contingency of returning Butch and Suni on Crew Nine if we need to. from that.”
“We configured Dragon so that Crew Nine has flexibility, so that only two passengers fly on that flight, and then we could return four crew members by the February 2025 deadline,” he added.
Stich also noted that no decision has been made yet about how they will return.
The Hill has reached out to Boeing for comment.
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