LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- NASA said Monday it plans to conduct an uncrewed Starliner-1 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as December this year or January 2027, with a crewed Starliner-2 mission targeted for 2028.
NASA also announced plans to exercise options for a fifth and sixth Starliner flight to and from the ISS, and said it will work with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify the Vulcan rocket for Starliner crew transportation after the final flight of the Atlas V rocket.
The uncrewed Starliner-1 will serve as an engineering evaluation mission to validate improvements made to the spacecraft, verify improved thermal environments, obtain performance data needed for system qualification and identify residual risks ahead of crewed missions, according to NASA.
The agency will use data from Starliner-1 to continue implementing corrective actions identified by its Program Investigation Team and complete the testing and certification required for crewed flight, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, adding that the current plan is to return astronauts to space on Starliner-2 by 2028.
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft launched in June 2024 on its first crewed flight test, carrying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, and docked with the ISS. During the flight, some of the spacecraft's reaction control thrusters did not perform as expected, and helium leaks were detected.
NASA ultimately decided to return Starliner to Earth uncrewed, while the two astronauts later returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in March 2025.
In February, NASA released findings from its Program Investigation Team into the 2024 crewed flight test. The investigation identified 61 recommendations for NASA.
Based on the findings, Boeing has made thermal modifications to Starliner's service module, which NASA will evaluate on Starliner-1. NASA and Boeing also have jointly decided to implement an additional thruster valve design modification to support spacecraft certification and future crewed flights.
Following Starliner-1, NASA and Boeing will complete the service module thruster valve design modification. Boeing will also implement other improvements, including installing new crew module thrusters and batteries, as well as making minor modifications to the parachute system to improve performance and reliability, NASA said. ■
