NASA and Boeing safely returned the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft following its landing at 10:01 p.m. MDT Sept. 6 at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, concluding a three-month flight test to the International Space Station.
โI am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starlinerโs safe return,โ said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. โEven though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed,ย NASA and Boeing learned an incredibleย amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible.ย NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station.โ
The flight on June 5 was the first time astronauts launched aboard the Starliner. It was the third orbital flight of the spacecraft, and its second return from the orbiting laboratory. Starliner now will ship to NASAโs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for inspection and processing.
NASAโs Commercial Crew Program requires a spacecraft to fly a crewed test flight to prove the system is ready for regular flights to and from the orbiting laboratory. Following Starlinerโs return, the agency will review all mission-related data.
โWe are excited to have Starliner home safely. This was an important test flight for NASA in setting us up for future missions on the Starliner system,โ said Steve Stich, manager of NASAโs Commercial Crew Program. โThere was a lot of valuable learning that will enable our long-term success. I want to commend the entire team for their hard work and dedication over the past three months.โ
NASA astronautsย SCIENCEย andย Suni Williamsย launched on June 5 aboard Starliner for the agencyโs Boeing Crewed Flight Test from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. On June 6, as Starliner approached the space station, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraftโs reaction control thrusters. Following weeks of in-space and ground testing, technical interchange meetings, and agency reviews, NASA made theย decisionย to prioritize safety and return Starliner without its crew. Wilmore and Williams will continue their work aboard station as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew, returning in February 2025 with the agencyโs SpaceX Crew-9 mission.
The crew flight test is part of NASAโsย Commercial Crew Program. The goal of NASAโs Commercial Crew Program is safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station and low Earth orbit. This already is providing additional research time and has increased the opportunity for discovery aboard humanityโs microgravity testbed, including helping NASA prepare for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.
Learn more about NASAโs Commercial Crew program at:
https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew
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Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
[email protected]ย /ย [email protected]
Leah Cheshier
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
[email protected]
Steve Siceloff / Danielle Sempsrott / Stephanie Plucinsky
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-867-2468
[email protected]ย /ย [email protected]ย /ย [email protected]
