Return Date of the "Starliner" Spacecraft to Earth

NASA and Boeing announced that "mid-August is the final date for the return of the Starliner spacecraft to Earth." Project participants confirm that they remain determined to return the Starliner, which is docked with the International Space Station, and do not plan to use a backup crew vehicle from competitor SpaceX. Steve Stich, head of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said, "It can be said that the exchange of the International Space Station crew 8 and crew 9 in mid-August is the final deadline when we can return the Starliner crew - Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams." Stich notes that, according to initial calculations, the vehicle's batteries should have enough charge until the mentioned date. According to media reports, Starliner is facing technical issues with some of its thruster engines and a helium leak. Mark Nappi, Vice President of Boeing, indicated that he sees no reason to abandon plans to return Starliner. He said, "We plan to return the crew home on Starliner, and we see no reason to change that. There have been no discussions with SpaceX about sending another Dragon spacecraft to retrieve the Starliner crew."