NASA, Boeing Plan Uncrewed Starliner Flight for 2026

NASA and Boeing announced on Monday that the next flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will proceed without a crew, carrying cargo to the International Space Station as a test of its safety systems. The uncrewed mission, known as Starliner-1, is targeted for no earlier than April 2026, following extensive testing and certification efforts.

The decision stems from technical challenges encountered during Starliner's first crewed test flight in June 2024. NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams successfully docked the capsule to the ISS, but multiple thrusters failed during the approach, along with issues involving helium leaks in the propulsion system. NASA deemed the spacecraft unsafe for the astronauts' return, leading to its uncrewed descent in September 2024. Wilmore and Williams remained on the station for over nine months before safely returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in March 2025.

Engineers from NASA and Boeing have since conducted rigorous ground tests on the propulsion system, analyzing data from the flight to address the failures. "NASA and Boeing are continuing to rigorously test the Starliner propulsion system in...