NASA Unveils Updated Plans for Boeing's Starliner Program

NASA and Boeing have outlined updated plans for the CST-100 Starliner program. The agency intends to exercise options for additional missions, including a fifth and sixth flight to and from the International Space Station. These launches will use United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket after the Atlas V rocket's final flight.

The next mission in the sequence is an uncrewed flight, Starliner-1, which will validate spacecraft improvements and collect flight data. This mission could fly in December this year or January 2027 and will be used to verify thermal performance changes and gather performance data for system qualification before returning to crewed operations.

NASA has been working with Boeing to address issues identified on previous Starliner flights, including problems with the service module reaction control thrusters. These issues contributed to a loss of control during the Crew Flight Test in 2024. NASA and Boeing have made thermal modifications to the service module that will be evaluated on Starliner-1.

The organisations have also agreed to implement an additional thruster valve design modification to support certification and future crewed flights. After Starliner-1, NASA said Boeing will complete the thruster valve design modification focused on poppet seal extrusion and related effects on thruster performance.