Two American Astronauts Stranded in Space Will Be Brought Home by Space X Humiliation for Boeing – Libération

SpaceX to Boeing's rescue: The picture is not flattering for the aerospace giant. NASA announced Saturday that the two astronauts who were transported to the International Space Station by Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) only in February 2025 with rival SpaceX.

The Starliner’s successive difficulties led to the difficult decision not to use the ship to return Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams to Earth. It’s a snub to Boeing, which has already been hobbled by repeated setbacks with its aircraft. NASA has decided that Butch and Sonny will return with the Crew-9 crew next February, and that Starliner will return without a crew.NASA Administrator Bill Nelson made the announcement during a news conference after a decision-making committee meeting on Saturday.

The announcement is a major blow—and an insult—to Boeing, NASA’s longtime partner. And it couldn’t come at a worse time, with the group’s aviation branch in turmoil after serial aircraft failures and two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams launched aboard Starliner in early June for an eight-day mission. They have since been aboard the International Space Station, where their ship remains docked and will eventually remain in space for eight months.

They were originally supposed to return to Earth after eight days, but problems discovered in its propulsion system led NASA to question its reliability. And to consider a radical emergency solution: to return its passengers, who have already spent two and a half months in the flying laboratory, on a regular SpaceX mission in February 2025.