The POT This Monday put an end to months of uncertainty about the next flight of the Starliner of Boeing by confirming that the ship will travel only with cargo to the International Space Station. Starliner was due to make its certification flight to the ISS in June, but a large number of problems made it inadvisable to use it for the return to Earth of the two astronauts who traveled in it. Although the original plan was an 8-day stay, they had to wait more than 9 months until they could return safely in a capsule Crew Dragon of SpaceX.
According to NASA, the new objective is to launch the unmanned mission Starliner-1 from April 2026. To meet the schedule, it will be necessary to complete a demanding process of testing, certification and pre-flight preparation.
Steve Stichresponsible for Commercial Crew Program of NASA, has indicated in a statement that both parties continue to subject the Starliner propulsion system to exhaustive tests with a view to to two possible missions next year.
NASA has also explained that it has renegotiated the original contract with Boeing for Starliner, signed in 2014, which contemplated six manned flights to the station after the certification of the ship. Now the plan is to fly the Starliner-1 with cargo and then up to three manned missions before the retirement of the space station.
‘This modification allows NASA and Boeing focus on certifying the system safely in 2026execute the first Starliner crew rotation when ready and adjust our future flight planning according to the operational needs of the station until 2030,’ says Stich.
A capsule plagued with problems
The first flight of the Starliner, carried out in December 2019 without crew, had to be discontinued after software errors were detected. The spacecraft was close to being lost both shortly after launch and in the pre-entry phase and failed to complete the planned docking with the space station.
The second mission took place in May 2022 and it also took off without astronauts due to the problems recorded on the previous flight. On this occasion, the ship managed to reach the station, although it again presented incidents in some of its propellants.
NASA spent more than two years testing the Starliner on the ground before its first manned flight in 2024with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. During the approach to the station, the spacecraft experienced serious problems with the propellers.
As the astronauts reported after their return on the Crew Dragon, during the approach to dock with the ISS lost four of 28 maneuver thrustersforcing Wilmore to take manual control as the vehicle became increasingly difficult to pilot. At one point, they lost the ability to move the ship in the desired direction.
The situation was so precarious that both believed it might not be safe to return to Earthwhich made docking with the station the most viable option despite contradicting the mission ruleswho demanded return in those circumstances. During the critical docking phase, Mission Control had to bypass safety rules and emergency restart the thrusters while Wilmore piloted the space vehicle.
The Starliner managed to dock, but after deliberation, NASA informed Boeing that the vehicle would return to Earth without a crew.
Since then, it seemed likely that Boeing would have to fly an unmanned mission to demonstrate the safety of the Starliner propulsion system, something that was confirmed this Monday.