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NASA Unveils Phased Plan to Return Starliner to Service After Technical Hurdles
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News18•29-09-2026, 09:00
NASA Unveils Phased Plan to Return Starliner to Service After Technical Hurdles
- •NASA and Boeing have outlined a structured roadmap to bring the Starliner spacecraft back into operational service following technical hurdles encountered during its inaugural crewed flight.
- •An uncrewed Starliner-1 mission is scheduled for December or January 2027 to validate improvements and gather flight data, followed by a crewed Starliner-2 mission by 2028.
- •The overhaul addresses issues identified after Starliner landed without astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore in 2024, including service-module reaction-control thruster malfunctions.
- •Boeing has integrated thermal adjustments, redesigned a thruster valve, and implemented hardware upgrades like new crew-module thrusters and updated batteries.
- •NASA will also certify the Vulcan rocket for human-rated spaceflight, ensuring multiple American spacecraft can ferry astronauts to low-Earth orbit.
Key Questions Answered
The uncrewed Starliner-1 mission is scheduled to lift off either in December or January 2027.
NASA's current plan is to return astronauts on Starliner-2 by 2028.
Investigators determined that the service-module reaction-control thrusters functioned outside designated engineering qualifications, and ground trials tied these glitches to a complex interplay of thermal factors and system design specifications.
