Sunita Williams To Return To Earth On SpaceX Dragon Capsule As NASA Opts For 'Uncrewed' Starliner Flight

NASA has announced that SpaceX will bring back Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams from the International Space Station on their Dragon capsule. Boeing’s Starliner capsule will no longer be used to bring them back.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Saturday announced that Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will be returning from the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, instead of Boeing’s Starliner. This decision follows safety concerns and technical issues identified with the Starliner spacecraft. Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth aboard the Dragon capsule in February 2025, accompanied by two other crew members from the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

NASA, in a statement, explained that the uncrewed return of Starliner will allow the agency and Boeing to gather critical testing data during its upcoming flight while avoiding unnecessary risks for the crew. Wilmore and Williams, who have been actively involved in station research, maintenance, and Starliner system testing since their arrival at the ISS in June, will continue their work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew until February 2025.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasised the agency's commitment to safety, stating, "Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. 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 North Star."

Boeing Starliner To Make Autonomous Re-Entry And Landing In Early September

The Starliner, which had encountered helium leaks and issues with its reaction control thrusters on June 6 as it approached the space station, is expected to make a safe, controlled autonomous re-entry and landing in early September. Since the identification of these issues, NASA and Boeing have conducted extensive reviews, tests, and independent evaluations, but the uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence led NASA to move the astronauts to the SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate, praised the thorough analysis and focus on safety by both NASA and Boeing teams, saying, "We’ve learned a lot about the spacecraft during its journey to the station and its docked operations. We also will continue to gather more data about Starliner during the uncrewed return and improve the system for future flights to the space station."

Boeing and SpaceX both secured billion-dollar contracts from NASA for commercial space flights. Boeing's contract, valued at $4.2 billion (£3.18 billion), was aimed at providing crewed missions through its Starliner spacecraft, while SpaceX received $2.6 billion for its Crew Dragon flights. SpaceX has already conducted several successful crewed missions to the ISS, whereas Boeing's Starliner was undergoing its first crewed test flight.

Since encountering these technical challenges, engineers at both Boeing and NASA have been rigorously testing and analysing data from both space and Earth. Their goal has been to identify the root causes of the problems and find a solution for a safe crewed return using Starliner. However, the capsule's certification path has been significantly disrupted.

Boeing's Starliner, designed to compete with SpaceX's Crew Dragon as a second U.S. option for space missions, had previously struggled. The capsule failed a 2019 test flight but showed some success in a 2022 redo, despite encountering thruster issues. The June mission with astronauts was intended as a final test before NASA could certify Starliner for routine flights, but the current setbacks have complicated this process.