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No astronauts are planned to fly on Boeing Starliner’s next mission, but NASA has not permanently barred the spacecraft from carrying people. NASA and Boeing changed Starliner-1 into an uncrewed cargo and validation flight. A later crew rotation remains conditional on resolving technical issues, completing certification, and winning NASA’s approval.
What NASA decided
On November 24, 2025, NASA and Boeing modified their Commercial Crew contract and changed Starliner-1 from a planned crewed mission to an uncrewed flight. The mission is intended to carry supplies to the International Space Station and validate upgrades made after Starliner’s troubled 2024 crewed test. NASA initially targeted the flight for no earlier than April 2026, but that was a target, not a confirmed launch date. In its June 2026 review, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said Starliner-1 had no scheduled launch date in the period it examined.
The contract now calls for four definitive crew missions, with two more as options. NASA said Starliner could perform up to three crew rotations after a successful Starliner-1 flight and certification. That is a possible route forward, not a promise that those flights will happen. NASA’s contract announcement describes the change.
So the headline is accurate only if “won’t be allowed” refers to the next planned mission. Starliner is not currently certified for routine crew transport, and NASA has not announced a permanent ban.
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Why the 2024 flight changed the plan
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched on Starliner on June 5, 2024, and reached the station the next day. During the approach, NASA reported helium leaks and five reaction-control thrusters that dropped offline; four were later recovered. The crew and ground teams worked through the anomalies, and Starliner docked. The vehicle had demonstrated important capabilities, but the problems raised questions about whether its propulsion system could be relied upon for a crewed return and future operational missions. NASA’s docking update documented the issues.
The test was expected to last roughly eight to 14 days. NASA ultimately chose to send Starliner home without its crew; it landed in New Mexico on September 6, 2024. Wilmore and Williams stayed on the ISS as part of its crew and returned aboard SpaceX’s Crew-9 Dragon in March 2025. Their planned ride changed, but they were not left without a return plan. NASA later reported the flight lasted 93 days from launch to landing. NASA’s mission-close announcement covers Starliner’s uncrewed return.
Why fly cargo before people?
An uncrewed mission gives NASA and Boeing a chance to test corrective work in space without exposing astronauts to the same unresolved risks. It can exercise the spacecraft across a full mission: launch, autonomous operations, docking, undocking, re-entry, parachute deployment, and landing. It can also deliver station supplies. Flight data matters because ground tests have not fully reproduced every in-space thruster failure.
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But cargo success would not itself certify Starliner for people. Human-rating requires NASA to assess the spacecraft and its systems, fault tolerance, crew procedures, emergency and abort plans, and evidence from testing. The uncrewed flight is one important step in that process, not a substitute for it.
The problem is broader than one set of thrusters
Starliner has had anomalies across its development flights. The NASA OIG’s June 2026 report says service-module thruster failures occurred on OFT-1, OFT-2, and the Crew Flight Test: 10, three, and five respectively. It also describes helium-system issues across tests, parachute attachment-ring damage or bending, and a crew-module thruster failure during CFT undocking. The parachutes still performed within specified requirements during CFT, but the issue remained under review.
NASA’s February 2026 investigation classified the Crew Flight Test as a Type A mishap. No one was injured, but NASA used the designation because the loss of maneuverability and the mission’s potential consequences met the criteria for a serious mishap. The investigation pointed beyond hardware to combined failures, qualification gaps, leadership missteps, and cultural breakdowns. It also found that programmatic pressure—including the goal of maintaining two independent U.S. crew-transport systems—influenced engineering and operational decisions. NASA’s investigation summary explains those findings.
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The OIG describes helium leaks associated with O-ring degradation after prolonged propellant exposure, and thruster overheating linked to the units’ close arrangement and limited ways to remove or manage heat. These are findings in the oversight report, not proof that every root cause has been conclusively settled. As of March 2026, the OIG said helium and propulsion investigations remained incomplete and NASA and Boeing had not fully reproduced the in-space thruster failures in ground testing. It would therefore be premature to say Starliner is fixed.
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Starliner has not yet completed the path to routine crew flights
There is a difference between proving that a spacecraft can launch, dock, undock, and land and certifying it for regular astronaut transport. Starliner completed significant test objectives, including docking in 2022 and again during CFT, but it has not completed the evidence NASA requires for routine crew rotations. Certification depends on demonstrating acceptable reliability, addressing anomalies, and satisfying NASA’s safety and mission requirements.
The program’s earlier history helps explain why the latest problems carry weight. During the uncrewed OFT-1 test in December 2019, a software timing error prevented Starliner from reaching the ISS; NASA’s OIG later attributed the error to insufficient testing. OFT-2 docked successfully in May 2022, but still saw thruster failures and helium leaks. CFT then brought astronauts to the station but ended with Starliner returning uncrewed. A successful test is useful evidence, but it does not erase recurring problems elsewhere in a complex system.
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The schedule is uncertain, and the ISS window is narrowing
The OIG’s June 2026 assessment said human-rating certification was likely delayed until 2027. It also noted that NASA’s plan was for the ISS to operate through 2030. If certification comes in 2027, Starliner could still fly crew rotations to the station, but the available window would be comparatively short. The dates are estimates and plans, not guarantees; both the launch schedule and the station’s future can change.
That uncertainty makes the choice to continue Starliner a practical trade-off. NASA values “dissimilar redundancy”: having independent U.S. crew systems, so a problem grounding one vehicle does not necessarily eliminate access to the station. Continuing also preserves the work and infrastructure already invested in Starliner. Against that are recurring anomalies, incomplete root-cause work, more testing and schedule risk, and the possibility that the cargo flight could uncover further issues. This is not simply a contest between Boeing and SpaceX; it is a question of whether NASA can establish a second reliable system in time to use it.
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- Complete corrective work and testing. NASA and Boeing must address propulsion and other certification concerns and establish that the changes work.
- Fly Starliner-1 without a crew. The mission is meant to deliver cargo and validate the upgraded spacecraft. The OIG reported no scheduled date in its review, so the earlier April 2026 target should not be read as confirmation that the flight occurred.
- Review the flight and certification evidence. A successful cargo mission would inform NASA’s decision, but would not automatically grant human-rating certification.
- Decide whether to approve a crew rotation. If Starliner meets NASA’s requirements, the agency could authorize a crewed mission. If anomalies persist or certification evidence falls short, further delays or changes remain possible.
The key distinction is between grounding the next flight to astronauts and grounding the program forever. NASA has done the former. Its stated plan leaves the door open to the latter only after Starliner demonstrates that it is ready.
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