The Boeing CST-100 Starliner may be closer to returning home after successful Earthbound testing of its thrusters, which have kept the spacecraft in orbit since early June. Boeing and NASA were awaiting the completion of these tests to start planning for the vehicle’s return journey.
An update released last week stated, “Ground testing of a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico is complete, and teams are now focusing on data analysis.” The testing aimed to assess thruster degradation to understand why some thrusters did not function properly during the flight and to evaluate the potential impacts of reactivating them.
Some of the thrusters had been “de-selected,” meaning they became inoperative. There were leaks in the helium tanks that control the thrusters, which caused several launch delays. During a recent press conference, officials noted that the Starliner is equipped with 70 hours of helium, despite only needing seven for its mission. While they earlier mentioned that the spacecraft could return if necessary, they indicated that it isn’t quite ready for that just yet.
According to the latest update, NASA and Boeing have suggested that a return flight could occur at the end of this month. However, the timeline is now less certain: “Boeing and NASA engineers will continue with thruster disassembly and inspections, and will finalize flight rationale to support readiness reviews for the Starliner’s planned return to Earth with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams in the coming weeks.”