NASA reveals timing for Boeing Starliner return to Earth without astronaut Sunita Williams onboard; check all details

NASA has announced the timeline for the return of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which will make its journey back to Earth without astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore on board. The uncrewed Starliner is scheduled to depart from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, September 6, and is expected to land early Saturday morning at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico.

The Starliner capsule is set to autonomously undock from the ISS at approximately 6:04 p.m. EDT (3:34 a.m. IST, September 7) on September 6, beginning its descent to Earth. The spacecraft is expected to touch down at around 12:03 a.m. EDT (9:33 a.m. IST, September 7) on September 7, marking the conclusion of its flight test. NASA has planned extensive live coverage of these events, available on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website, weather permitting.

Pre-departure briefing and live coverage

Ahead of Starliner’s return, NASA will host a pre-departure news conference on Wednesday, September 4, at 12 p.m. EDT (9:30 p.m. IST). The conference, held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, will feature key figures from NASA’s Commercial Crew and International Space Station Programs, as well as a flight director. The event will be streamed live.

On Friday, September 6, live coverage of the undocking process will begin at 5:45 p.m. EDT (3:15 a.m. IST, September 7), with the undocking itself scheduled for 6:04 p.m. EDT (3:34 a.m. IST, September 7). Coverage will pause after the spacecraft has undocked and will resume at 10:50 p.m. EDT (8:20 a.m. IST, September 7) for the deorbit burn, entry, and landing phases. The landing, targeted for 12:03 a.m. EDT (9:33 a.m. IST, September 7), will be followed by a post-landing news conference at 1:30 a.m. EDT (11:00 a.m. IST, September 7).

Williams and Wilmore launched aboard the Starliner on June 5 for its first crewed flight, docking at the ISS on June 6. However, soon after arriving, NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft’s reaction control thrusters. For safety reasons, NASA decided on August 24 that the Starliner would return to Earth uncrewed, leaving Williams and Wilmore aboard the ISS. The astronauts are now scheduled to return home in February 2025 via SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-9 mission.

The SpaceX Dragon will fly with a two-person crew instead of a four-person crew in September, to bring back Sunita Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore in February. The SpaceX dragon will also fly with two empty suits for the astronauts stuck in space.