NASA announced that the Starliner-1 mission is scheduled for December 2024 or January 2025 as an uncrewed flight to the International Space Station. This mission will serve as an engineering assessment to verify improvements, test thermal environments, and gather performance data for system certification.
The agency plans to conduct the crewed Starliner-2 mission by 2028. NASA also confirmed plans for the fifth and sixth Starliner missions to the ISS. Furthermore, the agency is working with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify the Vulcan rocket for crewed launches following the retirement of the Atlas V.
The program follows a June 5, 2024, crewed test flight where the spacecraft experienced thruster failures and helium leaks. The vessel returned to Earth uncrewed in September 2024, while the two astronauts remained on the ISS until March 2025, when they returned via a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
In February 2025, NASA classified the 2024 test flight as a Class A mishap, the highest severity level. The investigation resulted in 61 recommendations for Boeing. The company has since modified the service module to address thermal issues, which NASA will evaluate during the upcoming Starliner-1 flight.
