Moving Forward: NASA Astronauts Embrace Next Starliner Flight Despite Past Hiccups

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - NASA astronauts Suni 'Sunita' Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore have both expressed their willingness to crew Boeing's spacecraft, Starliner, once again. This comes despite the capsule encountering technical issues during its first manned mission in June last year.

The culmination of the problems resulted in Williams and Wilmore being 'stranded' at the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months, as opposed to their initial eight-day mission. They only returned to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the ISS on March 18, 2025.

During a press conference on March 31, they stated their readiness to fly again with Starliner if the opportunity arises. "Yes, because we will address all the issues we faced," said Williams in a video of the press conference reported by Space.

She stated that she will address it. She is confident that the mission will be successful. The reason being the full commitment from Boeing and NASA. "And with that, I will soon step into it," she added.

Wilmore added that Starliner is an incredible spacecraft with many capabilities that other spacecraft do not have. "Witnessing its success and being part of the program is an honor for me," he said in the same video.

Williams and Wilmore conveyed in the press conference that they will continue their involvement in the Starliner program. According to both of them, they will soon meet with Boeing executives to discuss it.

Since being in space, Wilmore and Williams have repeatedly refuted comments of being 'abandoned' and 'stuck' at the ISS. They explained that the extended mission has already been part of their work as astronauts. "We do not feel abandoned, we do not feel stuck, we do not feel restricted," Wilmore said in February in response to statements from the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Separately, NASA's Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said that they are carefully mapping out the next steps for Starliner. Stich also referred to the evaluation of the spacecraft's helium system, which experienced leaks during its previous manned mission.

"We have some candidate seals that we will use. We will go through several scheduled tests in the summer with what we call an 'integrated doghouse' at White Sands (a NASA testing facility in New Mexico)," Stich said as reported by Space on March 20. 'Doghouse' is the term used by NASA and Boeing for thruster pods in the Starliner service module.

Boeing Starliner docked at the International Space Station during the Crewed Flight Test in 2024. Photo: NASA

These tests will be a crucial phase of the next Starliner flight plan. Stitch emphasized that NASA needs to ensure there will be no recurrence of the helium leaks. The issues with the thruster service module that affected Starliner's reaction control system--essential for smooth maneuvers like docking at the ISS--must also be resolved.

NASA has not decided whether the next Starliner flight--whenever that may be--will be crewed or not. However, even if it is not, NASA wants the capsule to have the capability to carry crew, "Which means the entire system is working well," Stich said.

He continued, NASA plans to give operational certification to Starliner once the next flight stage is successfully completed. "We really need Boeing for the rotation of crewed space missions using the SpaceX Dragon," he added.

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