Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule will return to Earth as early as next week, without crew: NASA

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ORLANDO, Fla. - NASA and Boeing said an uncrewed Starliner capsule will undock from the International Space Station and return to Earth no earlier than Friday, Sept. 6, "pending weather and operational readiness."

Over the weekend, NASA decided it was too risky to bring two astronauts back home in Boeing’s troubled new capsule. They must wait until next year for a return trip with SpaceX. What should have been a weeklong test flight for the pair will now last more than eight months.

The seasoned pilots have been stuck on the International Space Station since the beginning of June. A cascade of vexing thruster failures and helium leaks in the new capsule marred their trip to the space station, and they ended up in a holding pattern as engineers conducted tests and debated what to do about the trip back.

Boeings Starliner capsule, docked at the International Space Station [Credit: NASA]

After almost three months, the decision finally came down from NASA’s highest ranks on Saturday. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will come back on a SpaceX spacecraft in February. Late next week, the empty Starliner capsule will attempt to return on autopilot and touch down in the New Mexico desert.

"The spacecraft will touch down about 12:03 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 7, descending under parachutes and with inflated airbags to cushion the impact. Recovery teams at the landing zone will safe and prepare the spacecraft for a return to Boeing’s Starliner factory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida," NASA said.

NASA said Starliner completed a successful uncrewed entry and landing during two previous orbital flight tests. During one of the flight tests, the spacecraft also autonomously undocked from the space station safely.

A SpaceX capsule currently parked at the space station is reserved for the four residents who have been there since March. They will return in late September, extending their stay a month due to the Starliner dilemma. NASA said squeezing two more into the capsule would be unsafe, except in an emergency.

The docked Russian Soyuz capsule is even tighter. It can only carry three people but is reserved for two Russians wrapping up a yearlong stint.

So Wilmore and Williams will wait for SpaceX’s next taxi flight.

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