Boeing's Starliner is back without the astronauts it flew to the ISS

Boeing's Starliner undocked from the ISS at 6:04 PM Eastern on September 6 and landed at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 12:01 AM on September 7. It returned without its crew, as NASA opted for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to return via SpaceX Crew Dragon for safety reasons.

The Starliner encountered a helium leak and thruster malfunctions during its first crewed flight, despite engineers' efforts to troubleshoot. NASA's decision to fly back the Starliner uncrewed was based on uncertainty about the thrusters’ performance, achieving 85-90% of mission objectives, including a successful undocking and landing.

Boeing was absent from the post-landing conference, but NASA officials praised the Starliner's performance and noted lessons learned. Data gathered from the mission will be analyzed to make necessary improvements. Issues like heat-induced seal loosening that led to helium leaks will be addressed, while future missions continue with SpaceX flights.