NASA acknowledges error on Starliner test flight, classifying it as a Type A accident

NASA has been investigating the now-infamous Boeing Starliner incident since the story dominated headlines in late 2024 and early 2025. The Starliner suffered malfunctions that led to Retired astronauts Sonny Williams and Butch Wilmore stranded for several months. The agency has now issued a report on what happened, taking responsibility for its role in the failure of the mission.

“The Boeing Starliner spacecraft has faced challenges during its unmanned and most recent crewed missions,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. NASA blog post Thursday. “While Boeing built the Starliner, NASA accepted it and launched two astronauts into space. The technical difficulties encountered during docking with the International Space Station were very evident.”

NASA has now classified the mission A “Type A accident” Which is defined as “the total direct cost of mission failure and property damage in excess of $2 million or more,” or when “a manned airframe loss occurred.” Both apply to Starliner, which has cost the agency $4.2 billion so far.

Isaacman also issued a letter to all NASA employees On X. The letter identified several issues related to the mission, including “the risk of OFT’s prior payment that has never been fully understood,” and disagreements among leadership over Williams and Wilmore return optionsThe agency was late in announcing the failure of the mission, despite its high-profile nature that clearly demonstrated this.

These sentiments were echoed in NASA press conference Thursday.

NASA has committed to working with Boeing to make the Starliner spacecraft worthy of launching again, and has been investigating and remediating technical issues since the accident early last year. Isaacman admitted at the press conference that the “real technical cause” of the malfunctions has not yet been determined, but NASA believes it is close to determining it.

“We’re not starting from scratch here,” Isaacman told a reporter during the news conference. “We are sharing the results of multiple investigations that will come to light in the coming hours and days. Boeing and NASA have been working to try to understand these technical challenges over that entire time period.”

A glitch to remember

It was a manned Starliner flight He was late several times before finally launching on June 5, 2024. The crew encountered malfunctions on its way to the ISS, including several propulsion failures, making docking particularly stressful.

The Starliner’s return was delayed for two weeks before it was finally sent home without Wilmore and Williams, who were left stranded on the International Space Station until… Return With Crew-9 in March 2025.

The Starliner story is far from over. NASA and Boeing intend to return the Starliner vehicle to the International Space Station on an unmanned resupply mission, with a launch date currently set for April 2026.