NASA has decided to return the Boeing Starliner capsule without crew members Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams after months of speculation about their return and safety concerns surrounding the mission. The two astronauts will now spend several more months aboard the International Space Station. “The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our guiding light,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a press release.

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The Starliner, which suffered technical glitches en route to the space station, will now return to Earth in September. It was launched in June 2024 to conduct the first crewed test of the Boeing capsule designed to carry astronauts from Earth to the space station. Wilmore and Williams will now return aboard the Dragon capsule on SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission in February next year. NASA says the Starliner’s uncrewed return trip will not only serve to minimize risks, but will also give NASA a chance to collect more data on what went wrong and improve future iterations.

The space agency is now focusing on what is known as mission-end planning with Boeing. In particular, the agency has expressed confidence in the capabilities of the Starliner, which has already completed two unmanned missions, and said the parties involved are focused on making crucial corrections for future missions. However, based on the data collected, an unmanned return was deemed the safest path.

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Wilmore and Williams were originally scheduled to spend just over a week in space when they launched aboard the Starliner on June 6. Their original return date was June 14, although that date was soon pushed back several times due to problems with the engine systems, the discovery of helium leaks, and a problem with the reaction control system (RCS) oxidizer shutoff valve. Based on the leak rate and existing supplies, NASA engineers had originally determined that the Starliner could easily make its return trip because it still had enough fuel in the tanks for 70 hours of travel, while the actual trip required only seven hours of free flight.

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But as delays grew from days to weeks, NASA began working with SpaceX to develop fail-safe plans without publicly announcing them, as ArsTechnica reported earlier this month. NASA now says it plans to send the Starliner back on the return journey before the Crew-9 mission launches to ensure docking slots are available for the Dragon vehicle’s arrival. The Crew-9 mission, which was originally scheduled to bring four members to the space station, will now leave Earth with just two astronauts to make room for Wilmore and Williams when the shuttle returns in February 2025.

As for Starliner, NASA plans to conduct a thorough evaluation upon its return to see “what additional actions are needed to meet NASA’s certification requirements.” However, given its problematic performance, it could be a while before the space agency entrusts it with another mission.

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