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Boeing’s White Sands test team reproduced thrust degradation in a Starliner reaction-control-system (RCS) thruster after adding longer, more frequent pulses to simulate hotter in-flight conditions. That finding came from a ground test—not the separate test of Starliner’s thrusters while docked at the International Space Station (ISS), where NASA reported preliminary measurements at preflight levels. The different tests used different settings and firing profiles, so their results are not necessarily contradictory.
What happened during the White Sands thruster test?
Starliner launched on June 5, 2024, on its first crewed test flight to the ISS. During the station approach, some thrusters did not perform as expected, and helium leaks were observed. Engineers investigated why some jets had been deselected in flight and whether returning them to service could affect the mission.
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At White Sands, Boeing’s team first ran thruster profiles and then added longer and more frequent pulses to better simulate the higher thermal conditions experienced in flight. Boeing reported that this more aggressive profile reproduced thrust degradation. The team also ran more than 1,000 pulses in a simulated launch-to-docking sequence and 500 pulses across five undock-to-deorbit profiles.
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Why did the docked test appear to show a different result?
The White Sands test and the July 27, 2024, docked hot-fire were separate tests with different purposes and configurations:
| Test | Setting and purpose | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| White Sands ground test | Boeing tested a thruster on the ground, adding longer and more frequent pulses to simulate higher thermal conditions and reproduce the degradation seen in flight. | Boeing reported that the more aggressive pulse profiles reproduced thrust degradation. |
| July 27 docked hot-fire | NASA tested Starliner while it was docked at the ISS, firing 27 of the spacecraft’s 28 RCS jets briefly, one at a time, and separately reviewing helium leak rates. | NASA’s preliminary results put the tested thrusters at preflight thrust and chamber-pressure levels. |
A brief firing in orbit and a ground profile designed to recreate higher thermal conditions do not impose identical conditions. The preliminary docked-test measurements therefore do not erase the degradation reproduced in the ground test, and the ground test does not negate NASA’s reported in-space measurements.
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Why did NASA send Starliner home without its crew?
NASA announced on August 24, 2024, that Starliner would return uncrewed. The agency said uncertainty about the spacecraft and a lack of expert concurrence meant it could not meet its human-spaceflight safety and performance requirements for a crewed return. NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said the decision came down to needing “a higher level of certainty to perform a crewed return.”
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What did NASA’s later investigation conclude?
NASA chartered an independent Program Investigation Team in February 2025. The team completed its report in November 2025; NASA released its summary on February 19, 2026. NASA formally designated the Crew Flight Test a Type A mishap, citing the loss of maneuverability as the crew approached the station and the significant potential consequences.
NASA described the contributing issues as a combination of interacting hardware failures, qualification gaps, leadership missteps, and cultural breakdowns. It also said engineering root-cause work continues. The designation and investigation findings are significant, but they do not amount to a final, detailed account of the technical mechanism or a complete, flight-ready corrective design.
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What is established about Starliner’s future flights?
The published findings summarized above do not establish that Starliner has been certified for future crewed flights, nor do they provide a complete list of corrective changes or a certification date. NASA’s statement that technical root-cause work continues means the February 2026 release should not be read as the final engineering resolution. Any future flight or certification decision would need to be judged against later NASA and Boeing announcements, rather than inferred from either the White Sands result or the preliminary docked-test measurements alone.
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