{"id":9527,"date":"2026-06-23T21:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-boeing-committed-to-starliner-1-launch-despite-unclear-timeline\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T18:13:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T10:13:06","slug":"nasa-boeing-committed-to-starliner-1-launch-despite-unclear-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-boeing-committed-to-starliner-1-launch-despite-unclear-timeline\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA, Boeing committed to Starliner-1 launch despite unclear timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA\u2019s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Image: NASA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Update June 24, 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 UTC): Added a comment from NASA.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

More than four months after NASA released a report classifying the 2024 Crew Flight Test of Boeing\u2019s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as a Type A mishap, the timing of the return to flight mission remains up in the air and could be as far as a year away.<\/p>\n

During a public meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) on Monday, member Kent Rominger said that NASA was still assessing opportunities to launch the uncrewed Starliner-1 mission. He said the agency and Boeing were still working through post-flight work from the CFT mission and address issues raised in the Program Investigation Team (PIT) report.<\/p>\n

\u201cNASA and Boeing continue working toward the goal of Starliner\u2019s crewed certification, which includes defining what is needed and acceptable for the next uncrewed mission to reduce risk and confirm readiness for crew missions,\u201d the former NASA astronaut said. \u201cThe Starliner-1 uncrewed mission launch target is under review as work remains to close the final propulsion system issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spaceflight Now reached out to NASA to ask for its assessment of how soon the Starliner-1 mission could take place. An agency spokesperson said it didn\u2019t have update beyond its May 1 blog post.<\/p>\n

The Starliner CFT mission was marred by multiple anomalies, including five thrusters on the spacecraft\u2019s service module that failed during the rendezvous, which forced former NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore to perform manual piloting.<\/p>\n

The capsule also encountered issues with leaks in seven out of eight helium manifolds on the service module along with a reaction control system jet failure. The combination of issues eventually led NASA to remove Wilmore and his crew mate, former NASA astronaut Suni Williams, from the Starliner vehicle for return and fold them into the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.<\/p>\n

\"\"
NASA\u2019s SpaceX Crew-9 members pose together for portrait inside the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. From left, are NASA astronaut Suni Williams, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, and NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Butch Wimore. Image: Nick Hague\/NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In his summary of the Commercial Crew Program status for the ASAP meeting, Rominger said recommendations from the PIT report are being addressed and that \u201cmanagement and operational changes have been made.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PIT report pointed to \u201ccultural and leadership challenges that undermined technical rigor and exacerbated technical risks.\u201d The report stated that the root causes were as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • NASA\u2019s hands-off contract approach limited insight into the Starliner\u2019s development<\/li>\n
  • Boeing\u2019s inadequate systems engineering and reliance on subcontractors without sufficient oversight created gaps in hardware qualification<\/li>\n
  • NASA CCP\u2019s culture prioritized provider success over technical rigor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    \u201cThe Commercial Crew Program governance model has been updated to provide clarity in roles and responsibilities during missions,\u201d Rominger said. \u201cCompulsion System Delta Qualification Review Team has been established to ensure a comprehensive qualification plan is in place prior to flight and the integrated Boeing and NASA teams have made good progress closing all 72 flight observations and 22 of the 28 implied anomalies from CFT.\u201d<\/p>\n

    He said among the constraints standing in-between now and the flight of Starliner-1 include the overheating observed within the doghouse structures that house the RCS thrusters on the service module.<\/p>\n

    Rominger said ASAP was also keeping a close eye on the status of the cultural changes between the Boeing and NASA teams. He pointed to changes in leadership at both NASA and Boeing, pointing out that Boeing mission managers \u201cnow work directly with NASA\u2019s CCP mission managers and there is a renewed focus on improving trust and communication between NASA and Boeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cDuring a quarterly review at [NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center], the chief of Boeing Aerospace Safety, Don Newman, made the effort to talk with the panel and emphasize Boeing\u2019s commitment to NASA and Starliner,\u201d Rominger said. \u201cThe Astronaut Office also commented that they appreciated the fact that Don reached out to them with his commitment to a safe Starliner service.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Time is running out<\/h4>\n

    The return to flight mission for Starliner presents questions about how much use NASA will get from the vehicle before the International Space Station is retired.<\/p>\n

    During Monday\u2019s ASAP meeting, Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), Chair and former commander of the 45th Space Wing, said that while the ISS is intended to be in use until at least 2030, the ongoing leaks on the Russian segment are \u201cone of the most significant safety risks to the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

    She also pointed to the more than 40-year-old spacesuit equipment, which makes the suite of upcoming spacewalks increasingly challenging. Helms did note that there was \u201ca robust life extension plan\u201d in place for those.<\/p>\n

    \u201cCoincident with operational demands and these risk management challenges, temptation to reduce the ISS budget looms, but the panel would caution that such temptations should be disregarded as budgets decline,\u201d Helms said.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt is increasingly difficult for NASA to ensure the ISS risks remain manageable for day-to-day operations with enough contingency margin. The ISS program team continues to perform an outstanding job of managing those risks, but the margin to do so is now reduced to an alarming level.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In November 2025, NASA reduced its definitive number of flights from Boeing to safely ferry its astronauts to and from the space station from six down to four. Then in a May 2026 procurement filing, the agency said it was adding six more post-certification missions (PCMs) to SpaceX, noting the shortfall created by Boeing\u2019s delayed certification of Starliner for crewed flights.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt is necessary to award additional PCMs to SpaceX given the recently shortened ISS mission durations; technical issues and schedule delays encountered by Boeing; the allocation of missions between Boeing and SpaceX; NASA\u2019s projections for when an alternative CTS [Crew Transportation System] may become available; and the ongoing technical challenges of maintaining a reliable CTS capability for crewed flights to ISS,\u201d NASA wrote.<\/p>\n

    \u201cAwarding additional PCMs to SpaceX is essential for NASA to fulfill its responsibility of maintaining uninterrupted flight access for ISS\u2019s safe operation and to safeguard against potential anomalies or mishaps, and unforeseen external factors.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The SpaceX Crew-13 mission is currently slated to fly in September, moving up from its previously planned window in November \u201cto help increase the frequency of U.S.\u00a0crew\u00a0rotation\u00a0missions to\u00a0the space station.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Boeing\u2019s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA\u2019s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Image: NASA. Update June 24, 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 UTC): Added a comment from NASA. More than four months after NASA released a report classifying the 2024 Crew Flight Test […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[670,671,190,672],"class_list":["post-9527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-boeing","tag-cst-100-starliner","tag-nasa","tag-starliner-1"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10210,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9527\/revisions\/10210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}