Post by : Badri Ariffin

NASA has decided to significantly reduce the number of crewed missions associated with Boeing’s Starliner program, highlighting increasing worries about the spacecraft's dependability. The forthcoming Starliner mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will proceed without crew, underscoring ongoing technical setbacks and Boeing’s difficulties in catching up to SpaceX.

This announcement follows Starliner’s inaugural crewed test flight in 2024, which encountered several propulsion thruster malfunctions during its approach to the ISS, resulting in astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams remaining on the station for nine months.

Originally, Boeing was contracted under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program for $4.5 billion, with plans for six operational flights. This new agreement has cut it down to four—three will be crewed and one will be a cargo-only mission scheduled for April 2026. While optional flights could still occur, the total value of the contract has decreased to $3.732 billion, with NASA having already allocated $2.2 billion to Boeing.

Despite SpaceX’s Dragon capsule taking the lead in NASA’s astronaut transport since 2020, Starliner has experienced multiple setbacks, rising costs, and various technical complications. Recent changes aim to allow Boeing to thoroughly test its propulsion system and ensure safety certification, yet Starliner's future role in ISS rotations remains uncertain.

With the ISS projected to function until 2030, NASA affirms the necessity for two U.S.-based spacecraft to guarantee ongoing operations and lessen dependency on Russian Soyuz capsules. Boeing is also marketing Starliner as a future commercial option for space stations, although any such projects will likely take years to materialize.

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