Overview
- Boeing’s Crew Flight Test in June 2024 suffered multiple thruster failures on approach to the ISS, led NASA to stop a crewed return, produced an uncrewed return in September 2024, and resulted in the two astronauts coming home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in March 2025.
- An independent Program Investigation Team classified the June 2024 mission as a Type A mishap, a finding NASA accepted after identifying leadership, systems‑engineering and supplier‑oversight failures that reduced technical rigor.
- The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said at a June 22 meeting that integrated Boeing–NASA teams have closed many post‑flight observations but that remaining reaction control system thruster failures, doghouse heating around the thrusters and helium manifold leaks are mission‑level constraints for Starliner‑1.
- To guard continuous crew access to the ISS, NASA reduced its definitive Boeing flight allocations and moved to add six post‑certification flights to SpaceX’s contract, citing Boeing’s technical delays and schedule risk.
- Boeing and NASA say they remain committed to fixing Starliner and to crewed certification while implementing leadership and governance changes, but they have no firm uncrewed launch date and advisers say return to flight could take up to a year, which shortens the usable window before the ISS retires in 2030.