NASA Launches Unpiloted Starliner Test Flight After 2024 Mission Fails

NASA and Boeing are working together to launch an unpiloted Starliner test flight in December or January to test upgrades and improvements after a 2024 mission that left two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for nine months.

The mission, called Starliner 1, will rendezvous and dock with the space station, exercising the thrusters and pressurization systems of the spacecraft, which have been modified to prevent propulsion system failures.

According to NASA's low-Earth orbit operations manager Dana Weigel, the goal is to fly Starliner One as soon as the vehicle and team are ready, with a series of on-orbit demonstrations and tests to stress the thrusters and gather data for certification.

The Starliner has relied on United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rockets, but only half a dozen remain in inventory, prompting NASA to help certify ULA's new Vulcan rocket to carry astronauts aboard Starliner capsules.