The Boeing-built Starliner spacecraft has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) in uncrewed mode, with NASA providing live coverage of the event.
“Undocking confirmed, Starliner is beginning its return to Earth,” officials at the Houston Mission Control Center reported.
The undocking command was issued at 18:04 Eastern Standard Time. After the spacecraft fired its engines 12 times to move a safe distance away from the ISS, approximately 200 meters, it began its journey back to Earth.
The Starliner is expected to land in New Mexico in about six hours, around midnight Washington time. The spacecraft will return with cargo and materials from the ISS, NASA officials said.
The Starliner, built by Boeing under a NASA contract, launched on its first crewed flight with NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams on June 5. The test mission was initially planned to last about a week, but problems with the spacecraft’s engine and a subsequent helium leak during docking with the ISS extended the test.
Despite efforts to fix the issues, specialists were unable to resolve them, and it was decided that the Starliner would return to Earth without a crew. NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams will remain on the ISS until February and return home on the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
