EL PASO, Texas ( KTSM ) — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station and land at White Sands Space Harbor.
According to NASA, the Starliner will undock from the ISS on Friday, Sept. 6, and land in New Mexico just after midnight on Saturday, Sept. 7.
The spacecraft will be launching uncrewed, leaving astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore behind.
Boeing’s Starliner launched into orbit with its crew in June but experienced problems with several of its thrusters and continuous helium leaks – extending the two-man crew’s trip from days to months.
“What we really need to go do is look at the things that didn’t perform the way we expected. Like I talked about, the helium leaks. Can we go fix those leaks, test those on the ground and have confidence to move forward and fly again? The same thing with the thrusters. We know the thrusters are working well when we don’t command them in a manner that overheats them and gets the poppet to swell on the oxide,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.