Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft Returns to Earth Safely Without Crew

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft touched back safely to Earth without astronauts on Saturday after a three-month trip to the International Space Station .

"Touchdown #Starliner," Boeing posted on social media platform X.

"Touchdown, #Starliner! The uncrewed spacecraft landed at New Mexico's White Sands Space Harbor at 12:01 am ET (9.31 am IST) on Saturday, September 7," added NASA.

Starliner landed uncrewed following NASA's decision taken on August 24 to not return Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Willmore on the faulty spacecraft over "lack of safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight".

The uncrewed return "allows NASA and Boeing to continue gathering Starliner performance data.while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew", the US space agency said.

Williams and Willmore would now fly back to Earth this February of 2025 aboard the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

The Starliner had flown to the ISS with Williams and Willmore on a week-long mission. But when it reached the orbiting lab, the spacecraft began having several technical issues, including several thrusters failing and helium leaks within the propulsion system.

While Boeing declared the Starliner safe, NASA officials have disagreed.

In last week's critical review meeting, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has mentioned how the agency's "decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing's Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety".

Meanwhile, NASA announced that both Williams and Willmore "are safe aboard the space station"

Combined, the duo is supporting station research, maintenance, and Starliner system testing and data analysis with the Expedition 71 crew. Recently, they have completed research into fibre optic cables and growing plants on board the ISS, NASA said.

The Expedition 71 crew comprises NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps, and Tracy C. Dyson, along with cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and Alexander Grebenkin of Roscosmos.