Boeing Starliner Update: NASA Announces When Astronauts to Return Home [Video]

Officials with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that two astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard Boeing’s Starliner early this summer will return home by February 2025 during a Saturday press conference.

Astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, who have spent the entire summer in space, were initially scheduled to return to Earth around June 14. However, their mission faced a critical setback when the capsule developed leaks and some of its thrusters malfunctioned. As ground teams work to identify the cause of these issues, their homecoming has been repeatedly delayed.

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said the two astronauts “will return with Crew-9 next February,” a mission operated by SpaceX and not via their original spacecraft. He said that the “Starliner will return uncrewed.” The Boeing spacecraft is expected to undock in early September.

Nelson went on to note that, “We have had mistakes done in the past: We lost two space shuttles as …