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NASA Blasts Boeing, Agency Itself After Starliner Mishap Strands Astronauts for Months
Washington D.C. – A bombshell independent review of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has revealed a “potentially life-threatening” failure during its inaugural piloted flight, prompting NASA’s new chief to openly criticize both the aerospace giant and his own agency. The incident, deemed a “Type A” mishap, left two astronauts stranded in space for 286 days, far beyond their intended mission length.
“This was a really challenging event and…we almost did have a really terrible day,” stated Amit Kshatriya, NASA associate administrator, admitting, “We failed them.” He was referring to now-retired astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who launched in June 2024 for an anticipated eight to ten-day mission. They ultimately returned to Earth in March 2025 via a SpaceX Crew Dragon, after NASA deemed Starliner unfit for their return.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, who took the helm in December, affirmed NASA’s commitment to working with Boeing to make Starliner a viable crew transport vehicle, citing the importance of “competition and redundancy” for sustained access to low Earth orbit. However, he drew a firm line: “But to be clear, NASA will not fly another crew on Starliner until technical causes are understood and corrected, the propulsion system is fully qualified and appropriate investigation recommendations are implemented.”
The independent investigation, spanning months, unearthed a laundry list of management failures and technical issues that, while not fully understood at the time, were deemed acceptable for flight. The panel concluded these problems qualified as a “Type A mishap,” defined as an event with potential for death, permanent disability, over $2 million in government property damage, or the loss of a spacecraft. Isaacman noted the Starliner’s woes “exceeded the $2 million threshold a hundred fold.”
“Starliner has design and engineering deficiencies that must be corrected,” Isaacman asserted. “But the most troubling failure revealed by this investigation is not hardware. It’s decision-making and leadership that, if left unchecked, could create a culture incompatible with human space flight.”
The investigation highlighted internal pressure within NASA to ensure the success of its Commercial Crew Program, which relies on two independent astronaut ferry ships. This advocacy, Isaacman explained, “exceeded reasonable bounds and placed the mission the crew and America’s space program at risk.” He vowed that this “created a culture of mistrust that can never happen again and there will be leadership accountability.”
Anonymous personnel quoted in the report painted a picture of a strained work environment. One recounted, “There was yelling in meetings.
It was emotionally charged and unproductive.” Another stated, “If you weren’t aligned with the desired outcome, your input was filtered out or dismissed.”
A third expressed, “I stopped speaking up because I knew I would be dismissed.”
Even more concerning, a NASA worker commented, “NASA wasn’t blaming Boeing, but everybody else was. […]
You know, it’s our program. We’re responsible too.
Nobody said that. And nobody within NASA [or outside of NASA] has been held accountable.
Nobody. We’re 11 months after it happened, and there’s been no accountability at all, from any organization.”
Isaacman pledged that “lessons will be appropriately learned across the agency and there will be accountability.”
Following the space shuttle’s retirement in 2011, NASA awarded multi-billion-dollar contracts to Boeing and SpaceX in 2014 to develop independent crew transport vehicles. SpaceX, with an initial $2.6 billion contract, has successfully launched 13 piloted Crew Dragon flights for NASA and seven commercial missions.
In stark contrast, Boeing, initially awarded $4.2 billion, encountered numerous issues during an unpiloted Starliner test flight in 2019, necessitating a second uncrewed test before Wilmore and Williams finally launched on June 5, 2024, for the ship’s sole crewed test flight.
While the launch and docking with the International Space Station proceeded smoothly, the capsule experienced multiple helium propulsion system leaks and several maneuvering jets underperformed. Isaacman detailed, “During the rendezvous and proximity operations, propulsion anomalies cascaded into multiple thruster failures and a temporary loss of six-degree-of-freedom control.” He commended controllers and the crew for their “extraordinary professionalism” in achieving docking, but emphasized, “At that moment, had different decisions been made, had thrusters not been recovered or had docking been unsuccessful, the outcome of this mission could have been very different.”
Despite Wilmore and Williams downplaying the malfunctions, NASA and Boeing extended their stay in orbit for weeks of tests. By August 2024, Boeing believed the issues were understood, but NASA ultimately ruled out Starliner for the return.
Instead, the astronauts remained on the station until early 2025, hitching a ride home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon. This required a Crew Dragon to launch in September 2024 with only two astronauts, freeing up seats for Wilmore and Williams after the SpaceX crew completed their mission.
The Starliner, despite its issues, made an uncrewed return to Earth in September 2024. However, the investigation revealed additional propulsion problems during its return, leaving the craft with no backup options had another failure occurred.
The investigation team concluded that the mission, “while ultimately successful in preserving crew safety, revealed critical vulnerabilities in the Starliner’s propulsion system, NASA’s oversight model and the broader culture of commercial human spaceflight.” The panel issued 61 recommendations across “technical, organizational, and cultural domains” to address these issues before the next crewed Starliner mission.
“The report underscores that technical excellence, transparent communication, and clear roles and responsibilities are not just best practices, they are essential to the success of any future commercial spaceflight missions,” the team stated, adding, “The lessons from CFT must be institutionalized to ensure that safety is never compromised in pursuit of schedule or cost.”
Boeing, in a statement, affirmed “substantial progress” on corrective actions and “significant cultural changes” aligning with the report’s findings. The company reiterated its commitment to working with NASA for “future Starliner missions and remain committed to NASA’s vision for two commercial crew providers.”