NASA and Boeing have successfully returned the Starliner spacecraft to Earth. It landed in the New Mexico desert on September 6, 2024. This is stated in the message of the space agency.

This finally ended the three-month test flight mission to the International Space Station, which had experienced technical problems.

However, the return of the Starliner took place without the crew – astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams remained on the ISS. They will continue to work as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew until February 2025 and will return on the SpaceX Dragon.

“I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return,” said Ken Bowersox, assistant administrator of the Space Operations Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.

As you know, the Starliner delivered astronauts to the space station on June 6, 2024. But 5 of the 28 engines of the ship’s reaction control system overheated and failed.