Boeing astronauts could be stuck in space until 2025

Crew who went up for eight days may end up spending eight months on space station

The launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral space station in Florida, US, was postponed on May 7. Getty Images/ AFP

Spacecraft commander Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams were due to take off in Boeing's first astronaut launch. AFP

Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson attended the launch attempt. AFP

Butch Wilmore is a retired US Navy captain who has spent a total of 178 days in space. AFP

Pilot Suni Williams is also a retired US Navy captain and has logged 322 days in space, completing seven spacewalks totalling 50 hours and 40 minutes. AFP

People cheer as the vehicle carrying the two Nasa astronauts away from the operations and checkout building at Cape Canaveral. The countdown was stopped two hours before the planned lift-off. AFP

The crew walks out of a Nasa building to head to the launch pad. The flight was postponed because of a valve problem on the rocket. Getty Images / AFP

Nasa is considering bringing back two astronauts on a SpaceX capsule after the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they arrived on at the International Space Station suffered technical issues.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the orbiting laboratory on June 6 on a test flight, but the craft experienced several problems since launching, including thruster problems and helium leaks.

Their trip was initially meant to last only about a week, with a return date still not decided by Nasa and Boeing, as it remains unclear whether the Starliner would be safe enough to bring the astronauts home.

We have set up the Dragon for Crew-9 to only two passengers and then we could return four crew members in February 2025

Steve Stich,
Nasa

During an online media briefing on Wednesday, Nasa officials said they had several contingency plans in place.

One of them includes launching two instead of four astronauts on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission in September, so the capsule will have enough space for the two Boeing Starliner astronauts on the journey back home in February 2025.

“We have been working with SpaceX to ensure that they're ready to respond on Crew-9 for a contingency of returning Butch and Suni if we need that,” said Steve Stich, commercial crew programme manager at Nasa.

“We have set up the Dragon for Crew-9 to have flexibility – to have only two passengers fly up on that flight and then we could return four crew members in February 2025.”

He said that Nasa has yet to approve this plan, but the requirements are in place in case a backup is needed.

The Starliner spacecraft docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station on June 13, 2024. Nasa via AP

The crew members would complete about eight months aboard the space station if Nasa proceeds with the plan – longer than the typical six-month missions that its astronauts spend in space.

Meanwhile, the Starliner would be brought back to Earth uncrewed.

Boeing had launched the Starliner capsule to show that it could safely launch and bring back humans.

It has a $4.2 billion contract by Nasa under its Commercial Crew Programme to deliver its astronauts to and from the space station and has been developing the craft for a decade.

But it has been plagued with delays and technical issues, with the latest developments making it unclear when the company could begin commercial operations.

Nasa is hoping to secure multiple “taxi” options to the station so that it does not have to rely only on one rocket.

Boeing's rival SpaceX is dominating this business so far, having launched eight crews for Nasa since 2021 and private missions for Axiom Space.

The Starliner launch was meant to help Boeing rebuild its reputation, which was damaged by two crashes involving 737 Max 8 jets and a mid-flight door panel blowout on a 737 Max 9 jet earlier this year.