Boeing Starliner returning empty as NASA turns to SpaceX to bring astronauts back from ISS

Boeing

will return its Starliner capsule from the International Space Station without the NASA astronauts that it delivered to orbit in early June, the agency announced on Saturday.

With Starliner coming back to Earth empty, NASA will now have astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return via SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is expected to launch its ninth regular mission to the ISS for the agency on Sept. 24.

Ultimately, Wilmore and Williams will stay at the ISS for about six more months before flying home in February on SpaceX’s Crew-9 vehicle. The test flight was originally intended to last about nine days.

The decision to bring Starliner back from the ISS empty marks a dramatic about-face for NASA and Boeing, as the organizations were previously adamant that the capsule was the primary choice for returning the crew.

But Starliner’s crew flight test, which had been seen as the final major milestone in the spacecraft’s development, faced problems — most notably with its propulsion system.

“Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to get the necessary data to make this decision,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference with top NASA officials at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday. “We want to further understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner will serve as an important part of our assured crew access to the ISS.”

He reiterated that test flights are “neither safe, nor routine,” and that the decision was the “result of a commitment to safety.”

Boeing officials had been adamant in press briefings that Starliner was safe for the astronauts to fly home in the event of an emergency, despite delaying the return multiple times. NASA said there was a “technical disagreement” between the agency and the aerospace company, and said it evaluated risk differently than Boeing for returning its crew.

Nonetheless, NASA officials repeatedly expressed support for Boeing, and Nelson said he was “100% certain” that Starliner would be able to launch with a crew again someday.