In the past several days, Boeing’s Starliner program has remained at the center of attention after its troubled crew test flight earlier this year left NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded on the International Space Station. NASA and Boeing have now finalized plans to bring them home not aboard Starliner, but on a future SpaceX Crew Dragon mission, as covered by AOL.com. The Crew-9 Dragon capsule successfully docked with the ISS just days ago, delivering two new crewmembers and two open seats, which NASA has officially reserved for Williams and Wilmore. These seats are set to bring the astronauts home in early 2025. The original plan was for Starliner to make the return trip, but persistent technical issues — notably helium leaks and thruster malfunctions — prompted NASA to change both sequence and vehicle, reinforcing ongoing doubts about Starliner’s immediate reliability.

According to CNN and information summarized by AOL News, official statements from NASA clarified that Williams and Wilmore will likely remain on the ISS until at least February. The Crew-9 Dragon’s arrival marks a critical step in accommodating their extended stay. Boeing and NASA engineers continue to investigate failure points in Starliner’s propulsion and life support systems, but so far, no fix has been identified that would safely permit its near-term use for crew return. Photos surfacing from the ISS revealing the astronauts’ daily life have sparked both public sympathy and concern over long-duration spaceflight health impacts, reported by AOL.com. NASA officials, including program manager Steve Stich, stressed that the current priority is crew safety, even if it means further delaying Starliner’s operational service.

Meanwhile, Boeing’s broader space business faces both setbacks and bright spots. On the commercial aviation front, the Federal Aviation Administration just granted approval for Boeing to increase production of its embattled 737 MAX jets from 38 to 42 per month, as detailed by Fortune and AeroNews Journal. This increase comes after extensive manufacturing quality reforms and several tough years marked by safety scandals and production slowdowns. The FAA’s decision is seen as both an endorsement of Boeing’s renewed safety culture and a signal that regulators now view Boeing’s production system as more robust. This has positive implications for Boeing’s space manufacturing capabilities, as operational quality and production scale influence all aspects of the company’s aerospace work.

Boeing’s ambitions to certify the 737 MAX 10, the largest variant in its flagship single-aisle family, remain on track, with the company stating during its second-quarter earnings that the final engineering hurdle is an improved engine anti-ice system, forecast to be certified before the end of 2025. CEO Dave Calhoun emphasized that once this choke point is cleared, the MAX 10 can move into final testing and, eventually, commercial service, as highlighted by Aerospace Global News.

Outside of Boeing’s own programs, the competitive landscape is also shifting. NASA and Sierra Space have decided to remove the company’s Dream Chaser spaceplane from its originally planned 2026 mission to the ISS, due to continual development and certification delays, according to BGR. Instead, Dream Chaser’s first flight will be a free-flying demonstration, changing NASA’s resupply strategy and signaling broader uncertainty over near-term commercial cargo delivery to the ISS.

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