NASA Releases Report on Starliner Crewed Flight Test Investigation

At a news conference on Thursday, NASA launched a report of findings from the Program Investigation Team inspecting the Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crewed Flight Test as a part of the company’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,” mentioned 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.” 

Starliner launched June 5, 2024, on its first crewed check flight to the International Space Station. Originally deliberate as an eight-to-14-day mission, the flight was prolonged to 93 days after propulsion system anomalies have been recognized whereas the spacecraft was in orbit. After reviewing flight information and conducting floor check at White Sands Test Facility, NASA determined to return the spacecraft with out NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Starliner returned from the house station in September 2024, touchdown at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Wilmore and Williams later returned safely to Earth aboard the company’s SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission in March 2025. 

In February 2025, NASA chartered an impartial Program Investigation Team to analyze the technical, organizational, and cultural contributors to the check flight points.  

This report was accomplished in November 2025. NASA and Boeing have been working collectively since Starliner returned 18 months in the past to determine and handle the challenges encountered through the mission, and the technical root trigger work continues. 

Investigators recognized an interaction of mixed {hardware} failures, qualification gaps, management missteps, and cultural breakdowns that created danger circumstances inconsistent with NASA’s human spaceflight security requirements. NASA will settle for this as the ultimate report.  

As a outcome, NASA is taking corrective actions to deal with the findings of the report, in an effort to guarantee the teachings realized contribute to crew and mission security of future Starliner flights and all NASA applications. Due to the lack of the spacecraft’s maneuverability because the crew approached the house station and the related monetary damages incurred, NASA has categorized the check flight as a Type A mishap. While there have been no accidents and the mission regained management previous to docking, this highest-level classification designation acknowledges there was potential for a major mishap. 

NASA will proceed to work carefully with Boeing to completely perceive and clear up the technical challenges with the Starliner automobile alongside incorporating the investigative suggestions earlier than flying the subsequent mission.  

For the complete report, which consists of redactions in coordination with our industrial companion to guard proprietary and privacy-sensitive materials is obtainable on-line. A 508-compliant model of the report is forthcoming, and will likely be posted on this web page. NASA will replace with an editor’s notice when full.

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Bethany Stevens / Cheryl Warner
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bethany.c.stevens@nasa.gov / cheryl.m.warner@nasa.gov