Starliner undocked autonomously from the ISS at 6:04 p.m. ET on Friday and began a six-hour journey back to Earth using maneuvering thrusters. NASA had decided the thrusters would be too risky for a crew and decided to keep Wilmore and Williams on the ISS. Despite these concerns, Starliner returned to Earth smoothly, a NASA livestream shows, successfully completing the critical final phase of its mission.
The spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere around 11 p.m. ET, traveling at about 17,000 mph (27,400 kph). About 45 minutes later, it deployed a series of parachutes to slow its descent and inflated airbags just before landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.
The mission was originally intended to be a final test before NASA certified Starliner for regular missions, but the mission’s goal was thrown into uncertainty by NASA’s decision not to allow astronauts into the capsule for safety reasons. Despite Boeing’s successful return of the spacecraft, its path to certification remains unclear.
Wilmore and Williams, who have extra food and supplies, will continue their stay on the ISS until they return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle in February 2025. What started as an eight-day test mission turned into an eight-month stay. The ISS, a science laboratory about 250 miles (402 km) above Earth, is home to seven other astronauts from various missions and spacecraft, including a Russian Soyuz capsule. During their extended mission, Wilmore and Williams will continue to conduct science experiments alongside their fellow astronauts.
Read also: Watch Starliner’s solo, crewless journey home live! The trip to the ISS was marred by technical failures. Five of the Starliner’s 28 maneuvering thrusters malfunctioned during the approach in June. There were also helium leaks in the propulsion system, which is used to pressurize the engines. Although docking was successful on June 6, these problems led to a months-long investigation by Boeing, assisted by NASA. That investigation has cost Boeing $125 million, bringing total cost overruns for the Starliner program since 2016 to more than $1.6 billion, according to a Reuters analysis of securities filings.
Boeing’s Starliner has repeatedly struggled with problems, including a failed uncrewed test flight to the ISS in 2019. A repeat mission in 2022 was largely successful, although some engines failed then too.
The challenges with Starliner raise questions about Boeing’s future in space, an area the company has dominated until now. Competition from Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which offers cheaper satellite and astronaut launches, has significantly changed how NASA works with private companies.
“The aerospace giant’s problems with the Starliner are the latest conflict to call into question Boeing’s future in space,” underscoring the broader uncertainties Boeing faces in this area.
Boeing will recover the Starliner capsule after landing and continue to investigate the engine failures. The section that houses the engines, known as the “service module” fuselage, separated from the capsule before reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. That service module burned up as planned, meaning Boeing will have to rely on simulated tests to diagnose the hardware problems that arose in space.
The ongoing efforts by NASA and Boeing underscore the complexity of human spaceflight and the certification of new spacecraft. The lessons learned from this mission will be critical to the future of Boeing’s space efforts and NASA’s partnership with private companies.
