By Joey Roulette
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -NASA said on Thursday it expects to announce its decision on Saturday on whether the two astronauts who rode Boeing’s (NYSE:) glitchy Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station will need a SpaceX vehicle to to return to earth.
“NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts on board is not expected until Saturday, August 24, at the end of an agency-level review,” the space agency said in a statement.
Starliner launched its first two astronauts into space in June as a crucial test before it can receive NASA approval for routine flights. But what was supposed to be an eight-day mission linked to the ISS was postponed for months after the capsule leaked and some of the thrusters failed.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will attend the agency-level review, the statement said. Boeing has spent months trying to allay NASA’s fears about the Starliner problems with new test data that the company says confirms the spacecraft’s safety for astronauts.
NASA weighs that data against its low risk appetite during the mission, one of four Starliner flights since 2019 in which accidents have occurred.
The agency has a backup plan in place to make two seats available for an upcoming SpaceX’s Crew Dragon mission that the Starliner crew — veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — could use.
If NASA were to implement the SpaceX backup plan, Wilmore and Williams would not return home until the completion of that mission in February 2025, and Starliner would attempt to return to Earth empty.
If NASA decides Starliner is safe for the astronauts, the capsule itself would deliver them home much sooner, likely within the next month, to clear the ISS docking port for the SpaceX mission.
The impending NASA decision is a nerve-wracking moment for Boeing, which has struggled to develop Starliner and compete with SpaceX’s similar but more experienced Crew Dragon. Boeing has suffered $1.6 billion in losses on the Starliner program, securities filings show.
