Boeing Starliner's Delay In Returning To Earth Forces NASA To Postpone Crew-9 Mission Launch To ISS

NASA said on Tuesday that it is now looking to launch the agency’s crew-9 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) no earlier than Sept. 24 in a bid to give Boeing Starliner mission managers time to confirm its return to Earth.

What Happened: Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is currently docked at the orbiting laboratory. Starliner, which launched with two astronauts to space in early June, was supposed to return in about eight days. However, technical issues identified with the spacecraft while docking have delayed a return journey. NASA and Boeing are currently evaluating the spacecraft’s reliability for the return flight but no final decisions have been made, the space agency said on Tuesday.

SpaceX‘s Crew Dragon spacecraft was initially scheduled to launch four astronauts to the space station on Aug. 18 as part of the Crew-9 mission. However, the mission has now been delayed by over a month.

“This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency's Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory,” NASA said in a statement.

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.

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.

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.

Late last month, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich said that while the focus is on returning the astronauts aboard Starliner itself, using SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft to return the astronauts in case the Starliner can't is also a possibility.

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Photos courtesy: Shutterstock and NASA