Watch Boeing's Starliner return to Earth today without astronauts

Boeing crew undocks during NASA flight test – YouTube

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Boeing's Starliner capsule will depart the International Space Station without astronauts today (September 6), and you can watch the action live.

A livestream of Starliner's homecoming begins at 5:45 p.m. EDT (9:45 p.m. GMT) today, with the decoupling of the capsule at 6:04 p.m. EDT (10:04 p.m. GMT). You can watch it here on Space.com via NASA Television.

The landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico is about six hours later, on Saturday (September 7) at 00:03 EDT (04:03 GMT or 22:03 local time, September 6)NASA will also broadcast this event live, starting at 10:50 p.m. EDT (2:50 a.m. GMT).

a cone-shaped spaceship in space, the Earth can be seen on the left — Boeing's Starliner capsule approaches the International Space Station for docking on June 6, 2024. (Image credit: NASA)

Build Boeing’s Starliner!

Boeing Starliner model by Metal Earth — (Image credit: Amazon)

You can build your own Boeing Starliner space capsule with this Metal Earth Boeing CST-100 Starliner 3D metal model kit, available for $10.95 on Amazon.

Starliner's Crew Flight Test (CFT) to the International Space Station (ISS)—the capsule's first crewed spaceflight—launched on June 5 and docked with the orbital complex on June 6, although the first docking attempt was aborted. Starliner experienced helium leaks before launch, and during docking, five of its 28 reaction control system thrusters failed.

Related: Boeing's first manned Starliner returns to Earth without astronauts on September 6

CFT was originally scheduled to last about 10 days, but NASA approved a mission extension that eventually stretched to about three months to allow for extensive ground and space testing of Starliner's propulsion system before the agency cleared the spacecraft to land.

NASA ultimately decided that it was too risky to send astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home on the Starliner, so the duo will fly home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon in February 2025, while the Starliner will return to Earth unmanned.

SpaceX and Boeing won multibillion-dollar contracts from NASA in 2014 to fly astronauts in place of the Space Shuttle, which was retired in 2011. At the time, it was expected that these commercial manned flights would begin in 2017. But due to technical and financial delays, SpaceX was not able to begin manned flights until 2020; Starliner waited four more years for CFT.

NASA, Boeing, Williams and Wilmore (both former U.S. Navy test pilots) have all stressed the delicate nature of complex aerospace development projects. Because everyone is often grappling with the unknown on a test mission like CFT, timelines are always subject to change. It's unclear how Starliner's recent issues will affect CFT certification, but NASA and Boeing will review the process in the coming months.

two astronauts in flight suits smile in front of a small jet

Crew Flight Test astronauts Barry Wilmore (left) and Suni Williams, both of NASA, arrive at the agency's Kennedy Space Center on May 28, 2024, prior to the launch of their mission aboard the Boeing Starliner. (Image credit: NASA/Cory S Huston)

Starliner's first unmanned test flight to the ISS in 2019, the same year as SpaceX's, did not go according to plan; the Boeing capsule failed to reach the station due to technical glitches. The repeat mission required dozens of problems to be fixed; it was also postponed due to the COVID pandemic that broke out in early 2020.

Starliner's second uncrewed test flight went mostly according to plan in 2022, including an ISS docking, although Starliner also experienced some engine problems. (How these relate to the CFT problems is still under investigation, but officials say it appears to have other causes.) CFT was scheduled to launch in 2023, but the mission was postponed after problems were discovered with parachute loading and cables wrapped in flammable tape.

a cone-shaped spacecraft docked to a multi-cylinder space station

Boeing's Starliner capsule is seen docked to the International Space Station in this zoomed-in view of an image taken on June 7, 2024 by Maxar Technologies' WorldView-3 satellite. (Image credit: Maxar Technologies)

CFT's first launch attempt on May 6, 2024, was postponed after a valve problem was discovered on Starliner's rocket, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V. After the missile defense, officials discovered a small helium leak in one of Starliner's engines.

Although the leak did not pose an immediate launch threat, it was investigated for safety reasons. Both NASA and Boeing discovered a weakness in the design: if enough engines failed, one of the reentry modes would be affected. NASA certified a new entry mode after running ground simulations with the CFT crew.

A second launch attempt on June 1 was aborted due to a problem with ground equipment, but Starliner then flew into space on its third attempt on June 5.

Watch Boeing's Starliner return to Earth today without astronauts

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