• NASA has had to move the date for its next SpaceX mission to the International Space Station.
• This as Boeing’s Starliner remains stuck at the ISS, occupying one of five docking ports.
• The SpaceX mission will now launch no earlier than 24th September.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has been stuck at the International Space Station since early June following thruster failures and a series of leaks were discovered.

Try as ground teams and astronauts might, Starliner has remained affixed to the exterior of the ISS, taking up one of the five docking ports on the floating laboratory.

Because of this, NASA has decided to delay its next crewed mission to the ISS aboard a SpaceX spacecraft. The Crew-9 mission will now take place no earlier than 24th September.

“This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory. Starliner ground teams are taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth. NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate the spacecraft’s readiness, and no decisions have been made regarding Starliner’s return,” NASA wrote in an update on Tuesday.

This change in plans is also convenient as it means there won’t clash with a Soyuz handover happening in the middle of March.

As for Starliner, ground teams are testing a thruster at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. The data from that test is being reviewed and once that process is complete, hopefully, a new target return date can be set.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are working with NASA and Boeing to test the Starliner vessel and sat inside the capsule last week to test pressure and test water systems.

Whether the pair will return aboard Starliner isn’t clear at this stage but we’re sure we’ll learn more as NASA and Boeing work the problem. This has, however, most likely left a sour taste in NASA’s mouth as regards using Boeing to ferry astronauts and supplies to the ISS.