NASA Faults Boeing, Self in Damning Starliner Mishap Report

In a formal report released February 19, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has officially classified Boeing's first Starliner crewed mission as a "Type A mishap," the agency's most severe safety designation. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman publicly faulted both Boeing's leadership and NASA's own management for the failures during the Starliner Crew Flight Test (CFT) that put two astronauts at risk and stranded them on the International Space Station (ISS) for an extended period.

The classification signals a profound crisis for the Starliner program, placing it in the same category as catastrophic events like the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters. The decision follows a lengthy investigation into the June 2024 mission, which encountered multiple thruster failures and other technical issues that jeopardized the safety of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams. This public rebuke from NASA's highest level puts significant pressure on Boeing to implement comprehensive technical and cultural reforms before the spacecraft is permitted to fly again.

A 'Type A Mishap' Declared

The Starliner CFT mission, which launched on June 5, 2024, was plagued by problems that nearly prevented it from docking with the ISS. According to NASA's 312-page report, the issues were severe enough to warrant the "Type A mishap" classification. Per NASA Procedural Requirements, this designation is reserved for mission failures involving property damage of $2 million or more, or the loss of a crewed spacecraft. The agency confirmed the financial damage from the Starliner incident exceeded $200 million, a hundred times the minimum threshold.

Due to the spacecraft's technical problems, astronauts Wilmore and Williams remained on the ISS for 93 days. The Starliner capsule was ultimately deemed unsafe for their return, and the pair were brought back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon in March 2025. The empty Starliner capsule returned uncrewed in September 2024. NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya acknowledged the severity of the situation, stating, "We almost did have a really terrible day," referring to the potential loss of the crew. Speaking of Wilmore and Williams, he added, "We failed them."

Leadership and Cultural Failures

Administrator Isaacman, who assumed leadership of NASA in December 2025, did not limit his criticism to technical faults. He cited poor decision-making and a flawed workplace culture at both Boeing and within NASA's own oversight teams. "While Boeing built Starliner, NASA accepted it and launched two astronauts to space," Isaacman stated. "We have to own our mistakes and ensure they never happen again."

Isaacman asserted that the mission should have been labeled a serious mishap from the beginning, suggesting there was internal pressure to protect the program's schedule and Boeing's involvement. This reflects concerns that lessons from past space disasters involving cultural and leadership failures had not been fully integrated. "This is just about doing the right thing," Isaacman said. "This is about getting the record straight."

A History of Starliner Challenges

The troubled CFT mission was not an isolated incident for the Starliner program. Boeing's first uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT-1) in December 2019 failed to reach the ISS due to a mission timer anomaly, forcing the company to repeat the flight. The second attempt also encountered issues.

These persistent challenges stand in stark contrast to the success of SpaceX, the other contractor in NASA's Commercial Crew Program. NASA awarded the contracts in September 2014 to develop private astronaut transportation, ending U.S. reliance on Russian Soyuz rockets. Boeing's contract was valued at up to $4.2 billion, while SpaceX's was valued at $2.6 billion. Since 2020, SpaceX has successfully launched 13 crewed missions to the ISS for NASA, leaving Boeing far behind schedule and performance targets. Under the program's fixed-price contracting model, Boeing has absorbed over $2 billion in cost overruns for Starliner development.

The Path Forward

Boeing's path to certifying Starliner for regular crew rotation flights is now uncertain. There is no set date for its next mission, which is planned to be an uncrewed supply run to the ISS to serve as another test flight. In a statement, Boeing said it "has made substantial progress on corrective actions for technical challenges we encountered and driven significant cultural changes across the team."

The timeline is critical, as NASA plans to retire the ISS in 2030 and transition to commercially operated space stations. Until Starliner is certified, SpaceX remains the sole U.S. provider for crewed launches to the station.

Why This Matters

This public condemnation from NASA's leadership represents a critical juncture for Boeing's space division, already under scrutiny for issues in its commercial aircraft unit. The findings raise fundamental questions about NASA's contractor oversight model and its ability to manage complex, high-stakes public-private partnerships. For the U.S. space program, the continued grounding of Starliner underscores a lack of redundancy in crew transportation, increasing reliance on a single provider as the ISS nears the end of its operational life.

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