NASA awards two more Boeing Starliner missions, sets uncrewed ISS test for Dec. 2026–Jan. 2027

NASA is doubling down on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft despite the vehicle’s troubled first crewed mission in 2024, saying Monday that it plans to add two more Starliner flights, begin with an uncrewed test mission to the International Space Station as soon as this winter, and start work to certify United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket for future crew launches.

The move is notable because it comes after Starliner’s June 2024 crewed flight ran into anomalies serious enough that the spacecraft later returned to Earth uncrewed in September 2024. A NASA Program Investigation Team report released Feb. 19, 2026, classified the episode as a Type A mishap — the agency’s most serious category — and identified technical, organizational and cultural contributors, along with 61 recommendations.

In Monday’s update, NASA said it intends to exercise contract options for a fifth and sixth Starliner mission to and from the space station, signaling that the agency still sees the capsule as part of its long-term commercial crew plans. NASA has long sought more than one U.S. provider for astronaut transportation to low Earth orbit, rather than relying on a single spacecraft system.

Before any additional crewed flights, however, NASA and Boeing said they will start with an uncrewed Starliner-1 mission to the station to validate spacecraft improvements and gather flight data needed for certification. NASA said Starliner-1 could launch in December 2026 or January 2027. The agency’s current plan is to return astronauts to Starliner on Starliner-2 by 2028.

NASA also said it will work with Boeing and United Launch Alliance, the launch provider jointly owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to certify ULA’s Vulcan rocket for Starliner flights after the Atlas V’s final flight. That would shift Starliner onto a new launcher as Atlas V nears retirement, while preserving NASA’s goal of maintaining multiple commercial crew transportation options.

The agency said the main technical issue identified in the investigation involved Starliner’s service module reaction control thrusters, which operated outside their engineering qualification during the 2024 mission. NASA said the spacecraft’s thermal environment and design features contributed to the problem.

Boeing has already made thermal modifications to the service module, and NASA said those changes will be evaluated on Starliner-1. NASA and Boeing also jointly decided to implement an additional thruster valve design modification for certification and future crewed flights. After the next flight, Boeing is expected to complete that valve work and add new crew module thrusters, new batteries and minor parachute system modifications.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency remains committed to having more than one way to carry astronauts to orbit. “We have worked closely with Boeing to address the issues identified on previous Starliner flights, and we intend to see this vehicle return to flight in support of the International Space Station and future commercial destinations,” he said in the agency’s news release.

Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, said the next mission is intended to prove the spacecraft can safely move toward full certification. “With the safety of our space station crew and the public as our highest priority, we will test Starliner’s propulsion system through targeted demonstration objectives and disciplined operational controls,” Weigel said.