NASA Reduces Number of Starliner Manned Flights

NASA has scaled back the number of planned missions involving the Starliner spacecraft. The Boeing-made spacecraft is experiencing technical problems.

NASA and Boeing originally agreed that the Starliner would carry out six missions to ferry crews to and from the International Space Station. The contract has now been revised to four flights with an option for two more.

The next flight, scheduled for April 2026, will also be unmanned. It will only transport cargo to the ISS. During that mission, it should become clear whether the updates Boeing has made to the spacecraft are sufficient.

Starliner first flew passengers to the ISS during a test flight in June 2024. However, due to technical problems, the space capsule had to return to Earth empty, and astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore ended up spending nine months on the space station, instead of a week. They eventually returned on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.