Why NASA’s Decision To Return Boeing’s Broken Starliner Uncrewed Was Spot-On

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft made a successful return to Earth over the weekend, but not without some additional issues being found. While NASA reported astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would have been safe on the spacecraft, it also reported a thruster had failed during Starliner’s decent.

Issues with Boeing’s Starliner began even before it lifted off from Florida in June of this year. After liftoff, NASA reported teams had identified three helium leaks on the spacecraft, with one having been previously discussed before flight. Williams and Wilmore only intended to stay one week on the International Space Station, but it quickly turned into a month, as teams back on the ground with Boeing and NASA tried to figure out what caused the helium leaks, as well as a thruster performance issue.

As one month turned into two, the space agency began looking at the prospect of bringing back the two astronauts via a SpaceX Dragon capsule in February of next year. The decision was finally made in late September to do so, with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson remarking during a press conference, “The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star.”

Following Starliner’s return to Earth, NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich remarked that the spacecraft had pulled off a “bullseye landing.” However, NASA also confirmed that a thruster had failed during Starliner’s descent. The capsule also encountered a temporary blackout of its guidance system during reentry.

Stich explained, “I think we made the right decision not to have Butch and Suni on board. All of us feel happy about the successful landing. But then there’s a piece of us, all of us, that we wish it would have been the way we had planned it.”

Ken Bowersox, NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, echoed Stich’s sentiment about returning the capsule uncrewed, but added some levity to the situation. He remarked, “Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible.”

In the meantime, astronauts Williams and Wilmore will continue their stay on the International Space Station as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew. The two will return in February 2025 with the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

As of right now, it is uncertain if NASA and Boeing will launch the problem riddled Starliner again. Analysts have been suggesting the space company may abandon the entire project, which has lost Boeing over a billion dollars already.