NASA and Boeing leaders announced that the Starliner spacecraft built to carry astronauts to and from the International Space Station could fly by the end of the year.
Persistent technical mid-flight failures, particularly with its thrusters, climaxed in 2024, when two astronauts lost significant control of the spacecraft on their way to the International Space Station, resulting in them staying aboard the orbital outpost for nearly 10 months.
But after two years of internal and third-party investigations, leaders of both teams told reporters on Sept. 28 that they were confident that all technical and cultural problems with the Starliner program had been identified, and they were at a point of resolving them to announce two upcoming flights. …