Boeing's Starliner to return to earth without Sunita Williams

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is set to detach from the orbiting International Space Station on Friday (local time) and return to earth, without astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, as per the US space agency NASA.

The spacecraft is targeting a landing at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico on Saturday (local time).

NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 5 for its first crewed flight, arriving at the space station on June 6. It was expected that the two astronauts would have returned in the same flight.

As Starliner approached the orbiting laboratory, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters.

For the safety of the astronauts, NASA announced on August 24 that Starliner will return to earth from the station without a crew.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams finished packing Starliner with cargo and configuring its cabin for return. The duo closed Starliner's hatch for the final time on Thursday afternoon readying the spacecraft for its uncrewed departure, NASA said.

Wilmore and Williams will remain aboard the International Space Station and return home in February 2025 aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

"Starliner is scheduled to autonomously undock from the space station at approximately 6.04 pm on Friday, September 6, to begin the journey home, weather conditions permitting. NASA and Boeing are targeting approximately 12.03 am, Saturday, September 7, for the landing and conclusion of the flight test," NASA said.