Starliner undocks from ISS, returns to Earth without crew

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft has undocked from the International Space Station and is heading back to Earth without a crew, according to broadcast on the NASA website.

The undocking occurred at 6:04 p.m. US East Coast time on Friday. Starliner is expected to land six hours later at a spaceport in New Mexico. After undocking, the spacecraft engaged its engines twice for brief periods of time.

Boeing launched the Starliner on June 5, marking the spacecraft’s first manned flight to the space station. On board the craft were astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams. They were originally scheduled to remain in orbit until June 18. But due to problems with the spacecraft’s thrusters during its rendezvous with the space station, the return date was pushed back first to June 26 and then indefinitely. NASA eventually decided that the astronauts would return to Earth as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission in February 2025.