The Boeing CST-100 Starliner crew has received positive news regarding their return to Earth. The recent completion of ground testing on the spacecraft’s thrusters has paved the way for planning the return trip, which has been on hold since early June. Boeing and NASA were waiting for these tests before making any decisions about the vessel’s journey back.
Last week’s update confirmed that testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico has concluded, prompting teams to focus on reviewing the data collected. The primary goal of the tests was to analyze the degradation of the thrusters in order to understand why some were rendered inoperable during flight and to assess the potential impacts of restoring them to service for the upcoming Crew Flight Test.
Some thrusters were “de-selected” during the mission due to malfunctioning. This was linked to helium leaks in the tanks that control the thrusters, which occurred before and during the Starliner launch, causing multiple delays. Despite having 70 hours of helium on board—much more than the seven hours actually needed—officials stated last month that although the spacecraft could technically return at any time, they are not quite prepared for that eventuality.
As of the latest information, NASA and Boeing suggested that a return flight could still be feasible by the end of this month. However, the timeline 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.”