NASA announces return of stranded astronauts as SpaceX prepares risky mission

NASA is expected to announce as early as Saturday whether American astronauts stuck on the International Space Station will be able to return home on the faulty Boeing Starliner rocket that took them there or whether they will have to wait for a SpaceX vehicle – in a further embarrassment for the embattled rival planemaker.

SpaceX then plans to launch one of its riskiest missions yet next week, to attempt the first-ever private-sector spacewalk, featuring thin, innovative spacesuits and an airlock-free cabin.

“NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts on board is not expected until Saturday, August 24, following an agency-wide review,” the space agency said in a statement.

The Starliner capsule launched its first two astronauts into space in June, a crucial test before it could get NASA clearance for routine flights. But what was supposed to be an eight-day mission docked with the ISS was delayed for months after the capsule developed leaks and some of its thrusters failed.

Agency Administrator Bill Nelson will participate in the agency-wide review, the statement said. Boeing has sought for months to allay concerns about Starliner problems with new test data that the company says validates the spacecraft’s safety for astronauts.

NASA weighs the data against its low appetite for risk in this mission, one of four Starliner flights since 2019 to have experienced incidents.

The agency has prepared a contingency plan to make two seats available on an upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon mission that the Starliner crew — veteran NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — could use.

If this option is chosen, Wilmore and Williams would not return home until the mission ends in February 2025, and Starliner would be returned to our empty planet in the meantime.

Boeing has struggled to develop Starliner and compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, a similar but more experienced model.

Boeing has posted a $1.6 billion loss on its Starliner program, according to filings with securities regulators. The U.S. manufacturer has been rocked in recent years by crashes involving its 737 Max model and, on a newer version of the plane, a terrifying incident in January in which a door panel exploded in mid-flight, which is still under investigation.

Boeing is under pressure from SpaceX, the company founded by tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who also founded Tesla, the maker of electric ground vehicles, and now owns the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur, will join a retired military fighter pilot and two SpaceX employees on the mission’s launch that will include a spacewalk Tuesday aboard a modified Crew Dragon spacecraft.

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Two days later, they are scheduled to perform a 20-minute spacewalk 698 km into space. So far, only government astronauts on the ISS, orbiting 400 km above Earth, have attempted to enter space.

SpaceX’s five-day mission, called Polaris Dawn, will orbit in an oval shape, passing 118 miles from Earth and 870 miles away, the furthest humans have traveled since the end of the U.S. Apollo lunar program in 1972.

The crew will wear ultra-thin spacesuits in a craft modified to be able to open its hatch into the vacuum of space – an unusual process that eliminates the need for an airlock.

“They’re pushing the envelope in a number of ways,” retired NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman said in an interview with Reuters. “They’re also going to a much higher altitude, with a more severe radiation environment than we’ve seen since Apollo.” Isaacman funded the mission with $100 million.

Joining Isaacman will be retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and mission pilot Scott Poteet, as well as SpaceX senior engineers Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon.

“There’s not a lot of room for error,” Reisman said.