Boeing Starliner undocks from International Space Station, returns to Earth without crew

After three months spent docked to the International Space Station, the ill-fated Boeing Starliner spacecraft made its way back to Earth just after midnight Saturday, September 7, landing in the New Mexico desert. However, it returned without its two crewmembers who will spend another five months at the station.

The Starliner spacecraft undocked from the space station at about 6:04 p.m. EDT Friday. The Starliner flew up and over the space station before performing its deorbit burn. The thrusters, which had caused concerns about the spacecraft, performed without issue.

Just after midnight Saturday Eastern time, Starliner landed under parachute and airbag at NASA's White Sands Space Harbor facility in New Mexico. Boeing teams began recovering the spacecraft, which will be shipped back to Kennedy Space Center for evaluation.

Both Boeing and NASA were confident that the Starliner wouldn't encounter any issues – if not quite confident enough for its astronauts to be aboard for its return. Instead, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore will remain at the orbital outpost until February, when they will return on a SpaceX craft.

“We have confidence in the vehicle,” Steve Stich, the manager of the commercial crew program at NASA, said during a Wednesday news conference. “It’s been a journey to get here, and we’re excited to have Starliner undock and return."

Despite the show of confidence, NASA officials determined that the troubled Starliner wasn't quite dependable enough for Williams and Wilmore to ride back to the ground. The safer option, NASA decided, was for the astronauts to remain at the space station and have Starliner undock without them.

What was the Boeing Starliner return plan?

NASA's plan, which was successful, was for Starliner to undock at 6:04 p.m. Friday from the space station before landing early Saturday at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

Thruster burns would allow Boeing's spacecraft to autonomously steer itself away from the space laboratory and toward Earth before it would begin its descent into the atmosphere. The uncrewed capsule was expected to land about 12:03 a.m. EDT Saturday, using parachutes to slow its fall.

Had poor weather conditions or technical issues arose and caused a delay, Starliner could instead attempt to return Sept. 10, Sept. 14 or Sept. 18, according to NASA.

Starliner, explained: Starliner astronauts won’t return until 2025

You can still watch Starliner's return to Earth

Those interested in watching Starliner's undocking and landing can watch archived video on NASA's YouTube channel and get more information on the NASA app and the agency’s website.

A postlanding news conference, streamed at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, is also available on YouTube.

FLORIDA TODAY, part of the USA TODAY Network, provided live coverage at floridatoday.com/space.

What's next for the Starliner crew?

After arriving June 6 at the space station for what was to be a 10-day stay, Williams and Wilmore are now looking at eight total months spent in orbit.

The beleaguered Starliner was besieged with troubles even before it finally managed to launch June 5 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its inaugural crewed test flight. When the capsule made it to the orbital outpost a day after the launch, engineers discovered a slew of helium leaks and problems with the craft's propulsion system that hampered Starliner's return.

The SpaceX Dragon craft that is now slated to bring Wilmore and Williams home in February is scheduled to launch Sept. 24 with the Crew-9 mission. But because the Dragon now needs to make room for the pair of Starliner astronauts, Crew-9 will include just two members instead of four, NASA has said.

The Boeing spacesuits that Wilmore and Williams wore on their way to orbit will return with Starliner. A SpaceX suit is already available for Williams to wear on the return journey, while Crew-9 will launch with an extra suit for Wilmore, Stich said Wednesday.

The veteran astronauts, who have each been to space twice before, were trained and prepared for the possibility of an extended mission, said Dana Weigel, the program manager for the space station at NASA

During their stay, Williams and Wilmore have joined Expedition 71 in conducting more than 40 scientific experiments aboard the station already, Weigel said. Until they return next year, the astronauts will continue to help with scientific research and routine maintenance.

“We had them well prepared to move into this role,” Weigel said. “They’re ready to execute whatever mission we put in front of them."

What's next for the Boeing Starliner?

The mission marked the first crewed demonstration of the spacecraft, which was intended to compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX to make routine trips to space on behalf of NASA.

But the test flight appeared to cause tension between Boeing and NASA officials, who were split on whether Starliner was up to the task of bringing its crew home. When it returns to Earth, it will remain to be seen whether the Starliner could still become certified for crewed NASA operations to the space station.

Boeing will have to run more ground tests on Starliner to prevent future propulsion system problems and prepare it for regular trips to orbit.

"Their team is going to start looking at what we need to do to get the vehicle fully certified in the future," Stich said Wednesday.

While Boeing has not put out any recent updates of its own on its website, the company did say in an Aug. 24 post on social media site X that it will execute the mission "as determined by NASA."

"We continue to focus, first and foremost, on the safety of the crew and spacecraft," the company said.

Contributing: Brooke Edwards, Mike Snider, USA TODAY Network.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Starliner leaves space station, returns to Earth without crew