One year ago today, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft docked with the International Space Station to begin its long-awaited Crew Flight Test with NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore onboard.
Dragon Demo-2 would fly NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley and Starliner CFT would fly Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson and NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Mann.
On August 4, 2023, NASA announced that Epps was moving off of the Starliner-1 mission to the SpaceX Crew-8 mission.
Like with NASA, following the Crew-11 announcement, Spaceflight Now also reached out to CSA regarding Kutryk’s status in connection with the Starliner-1 mission.
“The Canadian Space Agency and NASA continue to evaluate future assignments to ensure the respective agencies accomplish their human spaceflight goals,” a CSA spokesperson said.
Today, one year ago, NASA astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore boarded Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as it docked with the ISS to start its eagerly anticipated Crew Flight Test.
The future of the Starliner program is still unclear a year later after NASA revealed late Friday that the spacecraft’s next flight would now take place in early 2026 instead of no earlier than late 2025.
Regarding the next launch, the agency stated that it is “pending system certification and resolution of Starliner’s technical issues.”. In a press release from March 27, NASA reiterated that it was still deciding whether or not to include astronauts on the next Starliner flight.
Williams stated that its next space mission would be “the logical thing to do” in an interview with Reuters that was released in late May. “”.
Williams told Reuters, “I think that’s the correct path,” and she expressed her hope that Boeing and NASA would reach a similar decision. “”.
Following the spacecraft’s June 2024 launch on its first crewed mission to the ISS, persistent problems with helium leaks and anomalies in the propulsion system led to the spacecraft’s return to Earth. The White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico is where it landed in September. 7.
Wilmore and Williams were members of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which returned to Earth in March 2025, and the Expedition 72 crew aboard the space station before Starliner’s uncrewed return.
The next steps of Starliner were not discussed by NASA until early March during SpaceX Crew-10 briefings, following the vehicle’s September 2024 landing. CCP manager Steve Stich stated on March 7 that NASA and Boeing were still figuring out the vehicle’s corrective measures before they knew what the next flight would entail.
Stich stated, “We’ll keep working toward certification at the end of this year and try to — whatever we do, the Starliner will be crew capable.”. When we look at this year’s manifest, we see that it’s really busy in the fall. Therefore, we need to determine where the Starliner fits into the manifest—does it fit best toward the end of this year, the first flight back after CFT, or early next year?
NASA and Boeing will spend the spring and summer at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico conducting “integrated firing of key Starliner thrusters within a single service module doghouse to validate detailed thermal models and inform potential propulsion and spacecraft thermal protection system upgrades, as well as operational solutions for future flights,” according to the aforementioned March 27 news release. “.”.
Each of the four compartments on the exterior of the Starliner’s service module houses seven Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters, which are collectively referred to as a “doghouse.”. On June 6, when Starliner was trying to rendezvous with the space station, five of these RCS thrusters failed.
Before docking, four thrusters were recovered. However, there are still unanswered questions regarding how to either redesign a portion of the vehicle or operate it differently to prevent reoccurring problems.
NASA was asked by Spaceflight Now to provide an outline of the White Sands testing schedule, including the start time and milestone dates. A representative for the agency stated, “As work continues, we will provide more details. “.”.
“Yes,” Wilmore responded when asked if he would ride on Starliner once more at a Crew-9 post-mission press conference. “”.
“Because all of these problems that we encountered will be fixed. We are going to fix them. “We will make it work,” Wilmore remarked. In light of the fact that Boeing and NASA are fully committed, I would jump right in. “”.
NASA stated in a statement on March 27 that “Mission managers are planning for the next Starliner flight to be a crew capable post-certification mission,” but that the agency was still deciding whether or not crew would be on board the next time Starliner flies. “.”.
In addition, NASA can fly only cargo based on the agency’s requirements. “”.
Who is on first?
There are still unanswered questions about who will fly the first crewed mission, known as Starliner-1, while NASA continues to consider whether or not crew will be on the next flight of Starliner.
When Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth last September without its crew on board, it appeared that there was a definitive answer. The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and NASA, which previously declared that three of the four astronauts would fly on the spacecraft’s post-certification flight, known as Starliner-1, are now unwilling to support their earlier claims.
The Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission concluded in September. When the spacecraft touched down in New Mexico on July 7, 2024, NASA Astronauts Scott Tingle and Edward Michael “Mike” Fincke were identified as the mission’s commander and pilot, respectively. Joshua Kutryk, a CSA astronaut, was designated as one of the mission specialists.
Kimiya Yui, an astronaut with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was reportedly preparing to be a mission specialist for that mission, but the fourth seat was never officially assigned.
“We also have the heroic figure of @Astro_Kimiya who is rumored to be a member of the first operation vehicle Starliner1! Good luck, Yui-san!” JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi wrote on X, sharing a photo of Yui taken by Boeing during the rollout of the Starliner spacecraft ahead of the CFT flight (to be translated via Google Translate).
NASA revealed the astronauts and cosmonauts who would be piloting the SpaceX Crew-11 mission no earlier than July 2025 on March 27, marking a shift in the Starliner-1 lineup. Yui and Fincke were two of the four announced.
The agency wrote, “NASA decided to reassign the astronauts to Crew-11 in overall support of planned activities aboard the International Space Station.”. Fincke adds long-duration spaceflight experience to this crew complement, and (Zena) Cardman brings her training as a commander on Dragon spacecraft. “.”.
Spaceflight Now contacted NASA at the time to verify that Tingle and Kutryk were still assigned to the Starliner-1 mission in light of Fincke’s reassignment. NASA refused to vouch for that.
In a statement to Spaceflight Now, an agency spokesperson said, “NASA and its international partners continue to evaluate future assignments based on the crew members’ qualifications, skills, and experience to ensure the respective agencies accomplish their human spaceflight goals.”. “NASA will provide more details about crew assignments as they become available. “.”.
The spokesperson said, “We will follow up when we have more information on future crew assignments,” in response to another question about whether Tingle and Kutryk were excluded from the Starliner-1 crew. “”.
Abridged Starliner-1’s history.
The Starliner-1 mission wasn’t always composed of Tingle, Fincke, Kutryk, and probably Yui. To reveal the crews that would fly on the demonstration missions for SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, NASA held a sizable event at the Johnson Space Center back in 2018.
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley would fly on Dragon Demo-2, while NASA astronauts Eric Boe and Nicole Mann and Chris Ferguson of Boeing would fly on Starliner CFT.
The astronauts who would be flying the first full crew rotation missions were revealed by NASA at the same event. Starliner-1 received Joshua Cassada and Suni Williams, while Crew-1 received Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins.
Fincke took Boe’s place on CFT shortly after the announcement because of a medical condition. NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps was then given the Starliner-1 mission in August 2020.
Following Ferguson’s departure from CFT due to family matters in October 2020, Butch Wilmore was appointed commander of that mission.
NASA then announced that October that Mann and Cassada would be transferred to the SpaceX Crew-5 mission after Starliner was forced to withdraw from the launch of the Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) mission in July 2021.
“Training aboard the Boeing Starliner, a brand-new spacecraft, has been an incredible experience, and working with the Boeing team has been amazing,” Mann said in a statement. “The chance to train aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon, another new spacecraft, is an absolute thrill, and I am grateful to the NASA teams who have made it possible.”. On the International Space Station, I’m prepared to fly and serve. “.”.
Also assigned to the Crew-5 mission was Koichi Wakata, a JAXA astronaut who was reportedly preparing for the Starliner-1 mission.
Before the uncrewed flight of the Starliner Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2) in May 2022, Fincke, Williams, and Wilmore were all referred to as a “cadre of Starliner astronauts” at a pre-launch press conference. NASA did not specifically specify which mission each of them would fly on.
Williams was designated as the CFT mission’s pilot after OFT-2 was launched in June 2022, and Fincke was reassigned to serve as CFT’s backup pilot. Later, in September 2022, NASA announced that Fincke would be the flight’s pilot and appointed Tingle as Starliner-1’s commander.
NASA announced Epps’ transfer from the Starliner-1 mission to the SpaceX Crew-8 mission on August 4, 2023. According to the agency, the decision was made “to give Boeing time to finish developing Starliner while also continuing plans for astronauts to learn spaceflight for future mission needs.”. “.”.
The Starliner-1 mission received its most recent official assignment in November. Kutryk was appointed as a mission specialist on 22nd, 2023. For the CFT mission, he later served as the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM).
Similar to NASA, Spaceflight Now contacted CSA about Kutryk’s status with the Starliner-1 mission after the Crew-11 announcement. Additionally, similar to NASA, a CSA representative refused to confirm his crew assignment.
According to a CSA spokesperson, “the Canadian Space Agency and NASAcontinue to evaluate future assignments to ensure the respective agencies accomplish their human spaceflight goals.”. Joshua Kutryk continues his mission-specific training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in the interim. “.”.
