Boeing Starliner to return without crew on 6 September

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on 6 September from the International Space Station (ISS).

Here's What We Know

The spacecraft is expected to land at White Sands Spaceport in New Mexico at 12:03 a.m. ET on 7 September. The spacecraft will use parachutes to slow its descent, as well as airbags.

NASA has confirmed that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will return to Earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon instead of a Starliner due to technical problems with the latter. Wilmore and Williams arrived at the ISS in June, but engine failures and a helium leak made it unsafe for them to return to the Starliner. Therefore, they will return aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The live stream of the Starliner's return will be available on NASA+, the NASA app and the agency's official website. The SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which is supposed to replace the Starliner on the ISS, will take place no earlier than 24 September with two astronauts: Nick Hague and, oddly enough, with Russian Alexander Gorbunov.

Source: NASA