CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA said Thursday it will decide this weekend whether Boeing’s new capsule is safe enough to return two astronauts from the International Space Station, where they have been waiting since June.

Administrator Bill Nelson and other senior officials are meeting Saturday. An announcement from Houston is expected after the meeting concludes.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Boeing’s Starliner on June 5. The test flight quickly developed engine failures and helium leaks that were so severe that NASA parked the capsule at the station while engineers discussed what to do next.

SpaceX could pick up the astronauts, but then they would be up there until next February. They should return after about a week on the station.

If NASA chooses SpaceX, the Starliner would return empty to Earth in September.

Engineers are reviewing a new computer model for the Starliner’s engines and how they might work as the capsule descends from orbit to land in the western U.S. desert. The results, including updated risk analyses, will feed into the final decision, NASA said.

Boeing said earlier this month that extensive engine tests in space and on the ground had shown that Starliner was capable of returning astronauts safely.

It was the company’s first astronaut flight and was delayed for years by numerous problems with the space capsule. Two previous test flights of the Starliner had no one on board.

NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX to transport its astronauts to and from the station a decade ago after the space shuttles were retired. SpaceX has been on board since 2020.

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