Canadian Astronaut Lands New Assignment After Starliner Mission Delay

A Canadian astronaut who was assigned to Boeing's Starliner-1 mission in November 2023 is now heading to the International Space Station on a different spacecraft. Joshua Kutryk, a Royal Canadian Air Force colonel with over 4,000 flight hours, was originally set to be part of Starliner's transition from test vehicle to operational crew rotation flights.

However, due to propulsion issues, NASA converted Starliner-1 to a cargo-only mission in November 2025, pushing Kutryk and the rest of the original crew to find new assignments. Kutryk was reassigned to SpaceX's Crew-13 mission, targeting launch no earlier than mid-September 2026.

Kutryk's situation is not unique; NASA has a system in place to ensure that astronauts can be reassigned if a spacecraft program slips. When Starliner ran into trouble, astronauts already trained and ready to fly moved onto Dragon flights instead of the schedule breaking down entirely.