The crew of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner has received positive news regarding their anticipated return to Earth. Following the completion of ground testing on the spacecraft’s thrusters, which have been inactive since early June, Boeing and NASA are now able to start planning for the vessel’s journey home.
An update released late last week confirmed that the ground testing of the Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thrusters at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico has concluded. The focus of the tests was to assess the degradation of the thrusters, enabling the teams to better understand the failure of certain thrusters mid-flight and to evaluate the implications of potentially returning those thrusters to operation for the Crew Flight Test.
“De-selected” refers to the thrusters that ceased functioning during the mission. Prior leaks from tanks holding helium, which controls the thrusters, contributed to delays before and during the Starliner’s launch. Despite the ship having 70 hours of helium on board—far exceeding the required seven hours—NASA officials indicated last month that while the craft could return if necessary, they were not yet fully prepared for that scenario.
At the previous update, NASA and Boeing had suggested a return flight could occur toward the end of this month. However, the timeline has since become less defined. The latest statement indicated that engineers from Boeing and NASA will continue with disassembly and inspection of the thrusters and work toward finalizing the flight rationale necessary for readiness reviews for Starliner’s safe return to Earth, with commander Butch Wilmore and pilot Suni Williams expected to lead the mission in the upcoming weeks.