NASA announces latest progress on Boeing Starliner, plans to carry out unmanned mission in December 2024 or January 2025

NASA announced the latest progress and mission arrangements of Boeing's "Starliner" on the 28th. It plans to carry out the "Starliner-1" unmanned mission to the International Space Station as early as December this year or January next year, and plans to carry out the "Starliner-2" manned mission in 2028.

NASA stated that the "Starliner-1" mission will serve as an engineering assessment mission to test spacecraft improvements, verify the improved thermal environment, obtain performance data required for system certification, and identify potential risks before the "Starliner-2" manned mission.

NASA also announced that it plans to arrange the fifth and sixth "Starliner" missions to and from the International Space Station, and will cooperate with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify the "Vulcan" rocket to carry out the "Starliner" manned launch mission after the "Astros 5" rocket is retired.

"Starliner" will carry two American astronauts to the International Space Station on June 5, 2024, to carry out the first manned test flight mission. The spacecraft was originally planned to stay in orbit for 8 to 14 days, but problems such as propeller failure and helium leaks occurred, and it was forced to return to Earth without crew in September of that year. The two astronauts were stranded on the International Space Station for a long time until March 2025, when they returned to Earth on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.

In February this year, NASA announced the results of its investigation into this mission, determining that the test flight in which astronauts were stranded on the International Space Station due to a spacecraft failure was a "Category A" accident with the highest severity level, and made 61 recommendations aimed at ensuring that future missions meet the high standards of manned space flight. Based on the investigation results, Boeing has made improvements to the thermal environment of the "Starliner" service module, and NASA will evaluate relevant improvements during the "Starliner-1" mission.