Boeing’s Starliner capsule on its way to Earth, with its two astronauts still on the ISS

So far, so good. Boeing’s Starliner capsule left the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, September 6, to return to Earth, but without the two astronauts it had carried on the way out, due to concerns about the safety of the spacecraft.

“The separation is confirmed”NASA said in its video broadcast at 22:04 GMT (00:04 Saturday, Paris time), adding: “Starliner is now moving away from the station and beginning its return to Earth”Its landing at a base in New Mexico, in the south-west of the United States, is scheduled for 04:03 GMT on Saturday (06:03, Paris time).

The reputation of the American aerospace giant, already damaged by numerous recent problems with its planes, suffered a further blow in June when failures in the propellant and helium leaks were detected in the capsule during the maiden manned flight.

Despite the manufacturer’s attempts to convince NASA of the safety of its craft, the space agency preferred to recruit Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams through Boeing’s competitor SpaceX and its Crew Dragon capsule. The two astronauts, who will not return until next year, will remain in space for more than eight months, when they had initially planned to carry out an eight-day mission.

An essential success for Boeing

NASA’s commercial human spaceflight program chief Steve Stich told reporters this week that despite Boeing’s certainty about its projections, the space agency “I was not comfortable” to continue with Starliner “due to uncertainty surrounding the model”.

A smooth return flight on Friday will be crucial for the US manufacturer, not only for its self-esteem but also for its future chances of obtaining further approvals for manned flights.

During the return flight, ground teams must monitor Starliner’s performance in all its aspects, in particular its thrusters, which experienced problems during the boost to allow it to leave its orbit and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Steve Stich assured that NASA was mainly focused on the immediate tasks at hand.

Once the return of Starliner was confirmed, “We will have a better understanding of when we will be able to certify the aircraft and when we will be able to resume flights”declared.

Ten years ago, NASA commissioned Boeing and SpaceX to create new spaceships to transport its astronauts to the ISS. With two vehicles, it does not want to be left without a solution in case of a problem with one or the other. But Elon Musk’s company has now far outstripped Boeing and has been playing the role of the American space taxi for the past four years.

This first manned flight of Starliner, carried out years late due to setbacks during its development, was to be the last test before the start of regular operations.