Flawed Boeing mission to return to Earth with rival SpaceX [Video]

Two US astronauts who arrived at the International Space Station aboard Boeing’s Starliner will have to return home with rival SpaceX, NASA said Saturday, in a fresh public relations blow to the crisis-hit aviation giant.

The return of Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams has been delayed for weeks by thruster malfunctions of the Boeing spacecraft and NASA administrator Bill Nelson announced they will come back to Earth in February, while Starliner will return uncrewed.

“A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring the Boeing Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety,” Nelson told reporters. “Our core value is safety.”

A statement from NASA said the new approach would allow the space agency and Boeing to continue gathering data on Starliner when it flies home “while also not accepting …