Return Of Astronauts Aboard Boeing's Starliner Uncertain Even After 50 Days Of Launch: NASA Hints At Possibility Of Using SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft To Bring Them Back

The return of two astronauts aboard Boeing’s BA Starliner spacecraft remains uncertain 50 days past launch due to ongoing technical issues.

What Happened: “We don’t have a major announcement today relative to a return date. We are making great progress but we are just not quite ready to do that,” NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said on Wednesday.

Astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been at the International Space Station since early June. They were initially estimated to return on June 14 but the return dates have been delayed time and again owing to issues of helium system leaks and thruster performance identified with the Starliner spacecraft while docking with ISS.

NASA is currently trying to study the risks associated with these issues before returning the astronauts.

“The beauty of having Dragon and Starliner and two different diverse space transportation systems is we can kind of use those as backups. Someday, Starliner could be a backup to a dragon mission…,” Stich said, hinting at a possibility of returning the astronauts with the help of SpaceX‘s Dragon spacecraft in case the Starliner can’t.

The focus, however, is returning the two astronauts on Starliner, he added, while refusing to provide a timeline for the return.

Why It Matters: Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has been marred by several delays since the start. The spacecraft was supposed to have its first uncrewed test flight in 2015 which was delayed up to 2019. The spacecraft then failed to achieve its intended orbit. In 2022, the spacecraft completed its first successful uncrewed flight to the International Space Station.

If the ongoing crewed flight test is successful, Boeing will become the next private company to shuttle astronauts to and from the ISS for NASA, like Elon Musk‘s SpaceX.

NASA awarded both Boeing and SpaceX contracts to enable transportation to and from the ISS after retiring its space shuttle. SpaceX sent its first crewed mission to the ISS in 2020 on its Dragon spacecraft and has since then undertaken multiple missions, overtaking its traditional rival.

Check out more of Benzinga's Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.

Read More:

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX To Resume Launch Operations Two Weeks After Mishap Involving 20 Starlink Satellites

Photos courtesy: Shutterstock and NASA