After spending nine months stuck on the International Space Station, the last thing I would consider doing is flying the same spacecraft that left me stranded there, but I’m not an astronaut. Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stated that they would be happy to fly the Boeing Starliner again during a post-flight press conference on Monday. It’s not an empty compliment, as NASA is open to scheduling another Starliner flight before the end of the year.
Wilmore and Williams returned to Earth last month on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. The duo launched to the ISS on Starliner in July last year for an 8-day test flight. Once helium leaks and thruster issues emerged en route to the station, the mission stretched for months as engineers attempted to resolve the problems. The pair didn’t blame anyone for how the ordeal played out but praised the positive aspects of Starliner. Notably, the spacecraft shares the traditional design philosophy of Boeing’s planes, like how the pilots should ultimately be in control. Starliner featured a manual override to the spacecraft’s autonomous flight capabilities. According to Space Police Online, Wilmore said:
“I jokingly said a couple of times before we launched that I can literally do a barrel roll over the top of the space station. … If we can figure out a couple of very important primary issues with the thrusters and the helium system, Starliner is ready to go.”
Starliner might be too expensive to can
Wilmore and Williams are set to meet with Boeing leadership on Wednesday to discuss what happened during the test flight. Since Starliner’s uncrewed return last September, NASA confirmed that 70% of the flight observations and in-flight anomalies have been closed. Despite the rapid pace in fixing issues, the problems with the thrust still persist. NASA aims to fly a certification flight later this year or in early 2026. The space agency wants to have a redundancy in capabilities and not be utterly dependent on the SpaceX Crew Dragon.
Surprisingly, Boeing remains committed to fixing Starliner. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program awarded Boeing a fixed-cost contract. If the aerospace giant exceeded the set budget, then it would have to cover the additional costs. The Starliner program was already over budget by $2 billion. Boeing considered ditching the final frontier altogether late last year by selling off its space division, but management decided to double down on Starliner.
