NASA is scaling back the number of planned missions using Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, the agency confirmed on Monday. The decision follows persistent technical problems that have plagued the capsule's development and its initial test flights.
Under the original agreement, Starliner was expected to conduct six crewed missions to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The revised contract now covers four flights, with an option for two more.
The next mission, scheduled for April 2026, will be uncrewed and limited to delivering cargo to the ISS. That flight will serve as a key test of whether Boeing's latest updates to the spacecraft are sufficient.
Starliner carried passengers to the ISS for the first time during a test mission in June 2024. But due to ongoing technical issues, the capsule was unable to return the astronauts to Earth. Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore ended up stranded on the ISS for nine months instead of the planned one week, eventually returning aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The setback dealt a significant blow to Boeing's human spaceflight programme and left NASA increasingly reliant on SpaceX as its primary means of transporting astronauts to the ISS.
