“Space travel is risky”: NASA decides that Starliner astronauts will stay in the space station until 2025

HOUSTON – NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced during a press conference Saturday that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain on the International Space Station until February 2025.

“NASA has decided that Butch and Suni will return with Crew-9 in February of next year and that Starliner will return uncrewed. The details of the schedule will be discussed shortly. I want you to know that Boeing has worked very hard with NASA to obtain the necessary data to make this decision. We want to better understand the root causes and understand the design improvements so that the Boeing Starliner will be an important part of our assured access to the ISS for our crew,” Nelson said.

Wilmore and Williams launched from Florida on June 5 to the International Space Station, where they were scheduled to stay for a week. Several landings have since been canceled as NASA and Boeing review the capsule’s propulsion system. At least five cases of helium leaks, used to pressurize the propulsion system’s fuel lines, have been identified.

The space agency wanted to conduct a Program Control Board review and a review of the agency’s flight readiness before deciding how Wilmore and Williams would return to Earth: either in the Boeing-built Starliner spacecraft they flew on, or in two empty seats in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, which will be used on the upcoming Crew-9 mission; the latter is scheduled to launch in September and return in February 2025.

Nelson said he spoke with Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s new CEO, who expressed his intention to continue to resolve the Starliner’s issues once the capsule is safely back home.

“Remember, this whole discussion is against the backdrop of our past mistakes. We lost two space shuttles because there was no culture of allowing information to get out to the public. We have made it very clear to all of our employees that they can raise objections if they have any. Spaceflight is risky, even in its safest and most routine phases, and a test flight is inherently neither safe nor routine. Therefore, the decision to keep Butch and Suni on board the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home unmanned is the result of a commitment to safety,” Nelson said.

Boeing issued the following statement on social media:

This story is currently being updated to reflect the latest information.

Watch Saturday’s press conference in the video player below or by clicking here.

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