Over the past several days, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and the company’s broader spaceflight program have remained under heavy scrutiny as ongoing technical setbacks continue to shape headlines. NASA had hoped to see the safe return of Starliner crew members Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams, but their stay aboard the International Space Station, which was initially planned for only a short mission, has now stretched on for nearly nine months due to unresolved issues with the spacecraft. NASA has now indicated that the two astronauts will not return to Earth until at least March 2025, meaning Starliner’s operational troubles have pushed its timeline much further than Boeing or the agency anticipated, as reported by CBS News and other outlets.
The latest schedule adjustment directly results from persistent technical problems with Starliner. After a series of launch delays and new concerns about the spacecraft’s propulsion systems and software, NASA, out of caution, opted to postpone the crew’s return. According to coverage from AOL, Wilmore and Williams are set to come home aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule in the next available crew rotation, while their Starliner vehicle, which was supposed to bring them back, remains sidelined after returning to Earth without its human occupants several months ago. The decision underscores the extent of operational difficulties still facing Boeing’s commercial crew program.
This confluence of technical hurdles has sparked renewed debate across the spaceflight community. Posts by figures such as Elon Musk and President Trump have openly questioned whether Starliner’s issues will further destabilize Boeing’s competition with SpaceX, especially since Crew Dragon continues to successfully rotate crews and even sets new records for mission duration and reusability, according to ongoing coverage by CBS and Space Launch Now.
These setbacks are happening as Boeing’s broader space and aviation programs experience significant transitions. Evrim Ağacı details that Boeing’s commercial airplane division is showing signs of recovery, with aircraft deliveries up 70% over 2024 levels, and the beginning of new freighter conversion programs in partnership with companies like Aeronautical Engineers Inc. But while Boeing has received fresh regulatory approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to increase 737 MAX aircraft production to 42 planes per month, the company’s space sector continues to face stringent oversight, with every incident drawing heightened attention from the FAA and NASA.
Boeing’s joint commercial crew contract with NASA was signed with great optimism, but now analysts at MarketBeat and other financial services are pointing to Boeing’s lagging pace in the space sector as a risk factor for its stock price, even as its defense and commercial airplane orders rebound.
Industry observers note that, while SpaceX presses forward toward new milestones—including another successful Crew Dragon docking with the ISS and continued work toward lunar and Mars missions—Boeing remains locked in a challenging effort to demonstrate Starliner’s reliability for regular astronaut transport. NASA has yet to state whether it will proceed with full operational use of Starliner until further fixes are assured, and reports on platforms like Smart.DHgate and SimpleFlying suggest that technical troubleshooting and additional uncrewed test flights may be necessary before future Starliner missions are scheduled.
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