NASA plans two more Starliner station flights and Vulcan crew certification

NASA and Boeing said Monday they intend to add two Starliner flights to and from the International Space Station and pursue a new rocket for crew launches. The plans give NASA a route toward continued use of Starliner, but its next flight will carry no astronauts: the spacecraft must first demonstrate changes made after its troubled 2024 crewed test.

In its September 28 announcement, NASA said it intends to exercise options for a fifth and sixth Starliner station flight. The agency also said it would work with Boeing and United Launch Alliance to certify ULA’s Vulcan rocket for crew transportation after the final flight of Atlas V. NASA did not give dates for the two additional flights or a timetable for Vulcan certification.

An uncrewed test comes first

NASA said Starliner-1, an uncrewed flight to the station, could launch in December 2026 or January 2027. That is a possible window rather than a confirmed launch date. The flight is intended to evaluate improvements to the spacecraft, check its thermal environment and gather propulsion performance data needed for qualification. NASA’s current plan is to return astronauts on Starliner-2 by 2028, subject to what the test shows and the remaining work needed for certification.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the agency would use data from Starliner-1, continue corrective actions identified by its investigation team and finish the testing and certification required before a crewed flight. Dana Weigel, manager of NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, said the uncrewed mission would use targeted demonstrations and operational controls to test the propulsion system and validate thermal performance. The announced schedule therefore depends on flight results, rather than simply on completing a launch.

Other planned changes include new crew-module thrusters and batteries, along with minor parachute-system modifications, according to NASA. The agency described these as improvements for performance and reliability in support of certification. It has not said the package of changes has been validated in flight; Starliner-1 is intended to provide some of the evidence needed to judge the propulsion changes and identify remaining risk.

Why the 2024 flight still matters

Starliner’s first crewed flight test launched on June 5, 2024, with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Propulsion anomalies extended a mission originally planned for eight to 14 days to 93 days. NASA returned the spacecraft without the astronauts in September 2024; Wilmore and Williams came home on a SpaceX Crew-9 flight in March 2025. The test’s outcome is the reason NASA is requiring another uncrewed evaluation before putting people aboard Starliner again.

In February 2026, NASA classified the crewed test as a Type A mishap, its most serious classification. The agency said there were no injuries and control was regained before docking, but that the loss of maneuverability and associated damage warranted the designation. Its investigation described a combination of hardware failures, qualification gaps, leadership missteps and cultural breakdowns that created risks inconsistent with human spaceflight safety standards. Isaacman said then that Starliner would return to flight only when ready.

Certification and station needs

A June assessment by NASA’s Office of Inspector General said Boeing’s Starliner capsule and Atlas V rocket had not obtained human-rating certification. The inspector general estimated at the time that Starliner certification would probably not come before 2027. That assessment preceded Monday’s announcement; it provides context for the remaining work but does not independently establish whether NASA’s new target of a crewed Starliner-2 by 2028 can be met.

The inspector general also said Starliner-1 would carry cargo instead of astronauts to validate changes made since the 2024 flight. It warned that uncertainty around certification and the decision to fly uncrewed could add costs. According to the office, NASA had already spent an extra $17 million to accelerate SpaceX flights originally planned for Starliner. It also found that NASA lacked enough contracted flights to fully crew the station through its planned 2030 end of operations.

The additional Starliner flight options address that need on paper, while leaving the immediate sequence clear: an uncrewed engineering flight, evaluation of its data, further spacecraft changes and completion of crew certification. NASA has given a possible window for the first step and a target for astronauts to return. The dates of the fifth and sixth flights, and the schedule for certifying Vulcan to launch crews, remain unspecified in Monday’s announcement.