Boeing Starliner astronauts remain stuck on International Space Station with no set return date, NASA announces

 There is still no return date for Boeing's stranded Starliner astronauts, who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June after their spacecraft developed multiple issues, NASA has announced. 

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams rode to orbit in Boeing's spacecraft following years of delays, successfully blasting off on Starliner's inaugural crewed flight from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5. They were scheduled to stay a week in orbit.

But during the flight the spacecraft suffered a series of issues, including five helium leaks and five failures of its reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, forcing engineers to troubleshoot issues on the ground. This extended the two astronauts' stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to the current 50 days. 

Yet NASA and Boeing say that even though ground tests have been completed, there is still no clear date for a flight home.

"We don't have a major announcement today relative to a return date," Steve Stich, the program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, said at a news conference on Thursday (July 25). "We're making great progress, but we're just not quite ready to do that."

When the astronauts will return remains unclear, but NASA officials have previously said that the spacecraft has enough fuel to remain in orbit until mid-August at the latest.

Stich said that NASA and Boeing may perform a test fire of the spacecraft "as early as next week." Following this review, Stich added, an undock time will be set.