Boeing and NASA delay return of Starliner astronauts to June 22

Before the June 5 launch, Boeing and NASA planned for the Starliner to be in space for nine days.

But the Calypso mission is now expected to return to Earth on June 22, departing the ISS at 11:42 p.m. ET on June 21 before landing roughly six and a half hours later at 6:26 a.m. ET. This means that the flight test of the Starliner crew will now take at least 17 days, about double the original plan, for further testing of the spacecraft.

NASA said the tests include operating the capsule’s hatch, firing seven thrusters and checking cabin air temperature while program managers and astronauts “finalize departure planning and operations.”

The agency also noted that the Starliner “will repeat some ‘safe harbor’ testing, but did not explain why this is necessary.” A safe haven test is when astronauts on the ISS use the spacecraft as a shelter during an emergency. NASA said that “the spacecraft remains cleared for emergency crew return scenarios within the rules of flight,” referring to a possible scenario of an unexpected evacuation of astronauts from the ISS.

After releasing the update on Friday, NASA deferred CNBC’s request for further clarification to a press conference on Tuesday before the scheduled departure.

The crewed flight test represents the final major step before NASA certifies Boeing to fly crewed on operational, six-month missions. Still, like the previous two space flights that were shut down, the Starliner is facing several problems during the mission.

A single leak was identified in Calypso’s helium propulsion system prior to launch. The leak was deemed stable and did not pose a threat to the safety of the capsule, so the launch went ahead and was successful in delivering the Starliner to the ISS.

However, the spacecraft has caused four more helium leaks since docking with the ISS. NASA wrote earlier this week that Calypso “has plenty of reserve to support the return trip” based on its current rate of five escapes, with 10 times the needed helium capacity in its tanks.

While Boeing was guiding the Starliner into docking, another problem appeared with the spacecraft’s propulsion system — which NASA says is separate from the helium leaks. The Starliner has 28 thrusters, known as its Reaction Control System, or RCS, engines that help the spacecraft make small movements in orbit.

Five of the 28 thrusters malfunctioned, but after the malfunction was fixed, Boeing found four of the Starliner’s thrusters inoperative and NASA allowed the spacecraft to dock.

NASA said Friday it will conduct hot-fire tests before disconnecting seven of the eight thrusters near the spacecraft’s tail. Hot fires are very short bursts of jets, with Boeing trying to evaluate the performance of the jets. NASA did not specify whether any of the seven thrusters that will pass testing were the same as the five that stopped working before docking.

Boeing Vice President Mark Nappi said in a statement that despite doubling the length of the mission, “we have plenty of headroom and time on the station.”

Starliner was once considered a competitor to SpaceX’s Dragon, which has made 12 crewed trips to the ISS over the past four years. But various setbacks and delays have steadily pushed the Starliner into a backup position for NASA, with the agency planning to have SpaceX and Boeing fly astronauts on alternating flights.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the duration of the flight test.