Boeing’s Starliner Delayed Again; NASA Confirms Both 2025 ISS Missions On SpaceX Crew Dragon

NASA has announced it will rely on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft for its two scheduled crew rotation missions to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2025, as it continues to assess the readiness of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. This decision comes as NASA evaluates whether Boeing will need to conduct another test flight of the Starliner before it can be certified for regular missions.

Crew Dragon for 2025 Missions

NASA confirmed that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon will be used for both the Crew-10 and Crew-11 missions.

Crew-10, slated for no earlier than February 2025, will carry NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with Takuya Onishi from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Kirill Peskov, a cosmonaut from Roscosmos.

NASA has yet to announce the crew for Crew-11, which is currently scheduled for July 2025.

Earlier this year, NASA had anticipated that Boeing’s Starliner would be ready for the February mission. However, ongoing issues stemming from the Crew Flight Test mission, which launched in June 2024 with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, have delayed the spacecraft’s certification. In July, NASA decided that Starliner would not be ready in time, prompting the agency to delay the Starliner-1 mission from February to August 2025 and shift Crew-10 into the February slot.

“The timing and configuration of Starliner’s next flight will be determined once a better understanding of Boeing’s path to system certification is established...NASA is keeping options on the table for how best to achieve system certification, including windows of opportunity for a potential Starliner flight in 2025.” - NASA Statement

Starliner’s Path to Certification

Starliner’s Crew Flight Test mission concluded on September 7 with an uncrewed landing in New Mexico, after NASA determined it was safer for Wilmore and Williams to return aboard the Crew-9 Crew Dragon mission, scheduled for early 2025. Despite this, the spacecraft experienced thruster issues and helium leaks during the mission, raising concerns about its readiness for future flights.

NASA has not yet provided a timeline for when it will complete its review of the data from the Crew Flight Test.

“It’s under data review. We need to have a decision: do we need another test flight?” - Pam Melroy, NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy

She also confirmed that there is no set date for completing the review, but it is crucial for determining whether the Starliner can proceed directly to operational missions.

Seat Exchange with Roscosmos

Another unresolved issue is whether NASA and Roscosmos will continue their arrangement of exchanging seats between Soyuz and commercial crew spacecraft. This integrated crew system allows NASA astronauts to fly on Soyuz spacecraft and Russian cosmonauts to fly on Crew Dragon. It ensures that both nations maintain a presence on the ISS in case either of their spacecraft experiences a prolonged grounding.

As of now, no NASA astronauts are assigned to fly on Soyuz missions beyond Jonny Kim, who is set to fly on Soyuz MS-27 in March 2025. Roscosmos released crew rosters for Soyuz MS-28 and MS-29, slated for late 2025 and 2026, respectively, with both flights exclusively comprising Russian cosmonauts.

“That’s coming in due course. It will be a normal negotiation,...We fully expect that the flights will continue to be integrated.” - Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

As NASA proceeds with Crew Dragon missions and awaits the certification of Starliner, it continues to ensure that its partnership with Roscosmos remains intact, while focusing on maintaining safe and reliable access to the ISS for its astronauts.