The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received promising news regarding their impending return to Earth. The recent completion of ground testing for the spacecraft’s thrusters marks a significant step forward. Since early June, the spacecraft has remained in orbit, with Boeing and NASA awaiting the test results to start planning the vehicle’s homecoming.
An update shared last week confirmed the successful ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. It stated that teams would now focus on reviewing the data collected during the tests. The primary goal was to investigate thruster performance degradation, providing insight into why certain thrusters failed during flight and assessing the potential impacts of reactivating these thrusters for the upcoming Crew Flight Test.
The term “de-selected” refers to thrusters that ceased functioning. Prior to and during the Starliner launch, tanks containing helium to control the thrusters experienced leaks, causing several delays. Officials noted that the spacecraft is equipped with 70 hours’ worth of helium, although it only requires seven for its operations. While they mentioned earlier this month that the Starliner could return immediately if necessary, they have indicated they are not quite ready for that yet.
In the latest communication, NASA and Boeing indicated that a return flight could be scheduled for the end of this month. However, the timeframe has become less specific: “Boeing and NASA engineers will proceed with thruster disassembly and inspections, and move forward with finalizing flight rationale in support of readiness reviews for Starliner’s nominal return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”