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Nasa boss says Boeing Starliner failure one of worst in its history

Nasa has labelled the botched 2024 Starliner mission, which left two astronauts stranded in space for months, a "Type A" mishap, on par with fatal shuttle disasters of the past, in a newly published report.

The category is the space agency's most severe, reserved for incidents causing more than $2m (£1.49 m) in damage, the loss of a vehicle or its control, or deaths.

On Thursday, Nasa's new boss, Jared Isaacman, blasted Boeing, which built Starliner, and the space agency for poor decision-making and leadership that led to the failed mission.

The incident drew global attention after the pilots were stuck for more than nine months in space before returning home last March.

NASA declares Boeing’s botched Starliner flight a mishap on par with deadly space shuttle disasters

NASA says a litany of failures led to 2024 Boeing Starliner astronaut stranding

On Thursday NASA leadership outlined how 2024’s glitch-plagued Boeing Starliner mission jeopardized astronaut welfare and the space agency’s culture of safety and accountability

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner ship approaches the International Space Station during the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test 2 mission on May 20, 2022.

NASA’s own decision-making and leadership were partly to blame for the conditions that led to the months-long stranding of two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024. That’s the major takeaway from a report released on Thursday by the space agency that summarizes investigations—some still ongoing—of what went wrong before, during and after the botched crewed mission to test the readiness of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS.

NASA Releases Report on Starliner Crewed Flight Test Investigation

At a news conference on Thursday, NASA released a report of findings from the Program Investigation Team examining the Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crewed Flight Test as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.  

“The Boeing Starliner spacecraft has faced challenges throughout its uncrewed and most recent crewed missions. While Boeing built Starliner, NASA accepted it and launched two astronauts to space. The technical difficulties encountered during docking with the International Space Station were very apparent,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.  

“To undertake missions that change the world, we must be transparent about both our successes and our shortcomings. We have to own our mistakes and ensure they never happen again. Beyond technical issues, it is clear that NASA permitted overarching programmatic objectives of having two providers capable of transporting astronauts to-and-from orbit, influence engineering and operational decisions, especially during and immediately after the mission. We are correcting those mistakes. Today, we are formally declaring a Type A mishap and ensuring leadership accountability so situations like this never reoccur. We look forward to working with Boeing as both organizations implement corrective actions and return Starliner to flight only when ready.” 

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