NASA Plans Uncrewed Starliner Test Flight for Year-End
NASA and Boeing have announced that an unpiloted test flight of the Starliner spacecraft is scheduled for the close of the current year. Should the flight meet all objectives, the partners intend to follow up with a crewed mission in the middle of 2028. The disclosure was made during a press briefing on Monday.
To enhance reliability, numerous technical revisions have been implemented. The propulsion system’s valves have been redesigned after earlier flights revealed issues with those components. Ancillary systems have been hardened, and updates have been applied to avionics, flight control and thermal protection.
Officials stress that the changes are a direct response to the anomalies observed during the 2024 test flight, which ended prematurely due to unexpected deviations. The modifications aim to minimize the chance of similar problems recurring.
The Starliner forms part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which contracts private firms to provide crew transport to low Earth orbit. Alongside SpaceX’s Dragon capsule, Boeing is the second provider seeking certification. A successful uncrewed flight would be a key step toward gaining that approval.
If the uncrewed demonstration proceeds as planned, NASA and Boeing view the path as clear for the first crewed Starliner launch in mid‑2028. Such a mission would mark a significant milestone in the commercial crew effort and would expand U.S. capability to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station.