NASA: SpaceX could bring back Boeing's Starliner astronauts, but not until 2025

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The return of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft from the International Space Station (ISS) to Earth with its two astronauts is still open, but a decision should be made within the next few weeks. NASA has options, but faces a difficult decision. If a return flight of the space capsule is not sufficiently safe, SpaceX could bring the astronauts back, but not until the beginning of next year. This could mean the first manned Starliner mission could be considered a failure – a disaster for Boeing in particular.

NASA officials said yesterday, Wednesday, that there is internal dissonance over Starliner safety between Boeing and the US space agency. While the manufacturer of the space capsule considers the return flight to be sufficiently safe, NASA has concerns about the safety of its astronauts. Should these concerns prevail, Starliner could return to Earth unmanned and automated. The two Starliner astronauts would then be brought back as part of SpaceX missions.

This possibility is one of the reasons why NASA postponed the launch of the Crew 9 mission earlier this week from August 18 to September 24 at the earliest. This is because if this mission were to bring more passengers back to Earth from the ISS on board SpaceX's Crew Dragon, the planned four astronauts would not embark on the Crew 9 mission, but only two, so that there is enough space in the space capsule for additional returnees. Ars Technica reports that a decision will have to be made by the middle of this month.

In mid-July , NASA had already instructed SpaceX to submit a "special study for emergency measures" by mid-August. The space company received a fixed price of 266,678 US dollars from Elon Musk for this. Officially, this was not due to the Starliner problems, but according to internal sources, this was indeed the reason.

Technical uncertainties with Starliner engines

However, Starliner could also return its two astronauts itself, but Boeing would first have to convince NASA of the safety of the space capsule. There were already engine problems during the flight to the ISS, which forced Starliner to stay at the ISS for a longer period of time. Five engines failed, four of which could be put back into operation. In addition, five helium leaks occurred, one of them before the launch. The engineers now assume that the leaks are related to the engine activities.

In addition, the tests of the Starliner engines carried out on Earth recently revealed previously unexplained anomalies. The failures could be traced, but a Teflon seal has expanded and bulged. This could have impaired the flow of fuel, which could have led to the engines shutting down. So far, the engineers cannot explain why the Teflon seal has deformed in this way and whether this will happen again on the return to Earth.

Boeing engineers are convinced that this will not happen again, but NASA wants to better understand and explain the phenomenon. This is because the previously failed engines are needed to control the space capsule on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. However, NASA and Boeing have not yet been able to agree on a joint approach. It is possible that this decision will ultimately have to be made by NASA management.

Starliner update required for autonomous return flight

Should Starliner return to Earth unmanned, however, the space capsule's software still needs to be updated. In principle, Starliner can fly autonomously and without manual control, as was last demonstrated by unmanned test flights from Starliner to the ISS in 2022. However, the spacecraft is now configured to fly with astronauts, meaning that the software expects input from the crew in some cases. For an autonomous return flight, the software must be brought back to the 2022 status.

"Essentially, we're asking the team to go back two years in time and restore the software parameters needed to automatically respond to outbreaks near the ISS if there are problems near the ISS. The software now allows them to do this manually," NASA manager Steve Stich said at the briefing. "The team is always updating this mission data as different things change."

No work has been done on this part of the software in the last two years. The update must therefore first be thoroughly tested, which should take around four weeks. If NASA decides to return Starliner autonomously in mid-August and SpaceX transports the astronauts back, the Boeing space capsule could leave the ISS in the second half of September and make room for the Crew 9 mission.

Boeing is conspicuous by its absence

Interestingly , according to Spacenews, no Boeing representative was present at this NASA briefing. Ultimately, Boeing is just a contractor to NASA and the space agency has to make the difficult decision. Is Starliner safe enough for the return flight with astronauts on board? If not, Boeing could discontinue the Starliner program, leaving NASA with only SpaceX as a partner for manned space missions.

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