Boeing Starliner returns to Earth empty, months later than planned

BoeingNASA's Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station on Friday, months after the spacecraft was originally supposed to depart — and without the two astronauts it carried into orbit in early June.

Instead, NASA test pilots Butch Wilmaur and Suni Williams will remain on the International Space Station for the rest of the year, returning to Earth in February aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

The spacecraft departed the space station at 6:04 p.m. EST on Friday and took about six hours to return to Earth. The Starliner successfully touched down at the landing zone at White Sands Spaceport in New Mexico at 12:01 a.m. EST on Saturday.

NASA officials said Wednesday that the separation process was done a little differently than it would have been with a crew, in an effort to protect the International Space Station and because astronauts were not on board to take manual control if necessary.

“We've got your back, get it back to Earth. Good luck,” Williams told mission controllers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Friday before separation.

The return of Boeing’s Starliner “Calypse” capsule has completed a test flight that was ultimately much longer than NASA initially anticipated — and didn’t go as planned. The agency has repeatedly delayed the spacecraft’s return, citing a desire to collect more data on the troubled propulsion system.

The Starliner spacecraft was initially expected to stay in space for about nine days, but it spent nearly three months at the International Space Station while Boeing investigated a problem with the capsule’s thrusters. Boeing officials have been adamant in press briefings that the Starliner is safe for astronauts to return home in an emergency, though they have delayed the return several times.

But NASA officials ultimately decided in late August that the agency would send an empty Starliner, saying it wanted to “further understand the root causes” of the spacecraft's problems.

The Starliner crew test flight was supposed to be Boeing’s final step and a major addition to NASA. The agency had hoped to have two competing companies — Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX — with the ability to alternate missions to the International Space Station.

Instead, the test flight has hampered Boeing's progress in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, and with the company already racking up more than $1.5 billion in losses, the flight could jeopardize the company's future participation in the program.