NASA and Boeing Prepare Unpiloted Starliner Test Flight Amid Fixes to Propulsion System

NASA and Boeing are working together to launch an unpiloted test flight of the Starliner spacecraft in December or January. The mission, called Starliner 1, aims to test upgrades and improvements ordered after a 2024 mission that suffered multiple propulsion system failures.

The failures stranded two astronauts on the International Space Station for over nine months. NASA and Boeing hope the unpiloted test flight will pave the way for a piloted Starliner flight in mid-2028, which will incorporate redesigned propulsion system valves and more robust subsystems.

Veteran astronaut Warren 'Woody' Hoburg will command the mission, joined by other crew members to be named later. The test flight is crucial for NASA's goal of having two U.S.-based spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts and researchers to low Earth orbit.