Boeing's Starliner spacecraft earned NASA's most severe failure classification, carrying direct consequences for the Johnson Space Center workforce in the Clear Lake area.

The agency labeled the Starliner's 2024 test flight a "Type A" mishap, the same designation applied to the Challenger and Columbia disasters, Houston Public Media reported Wednesday, Sept. 2. The investigation found fault with both NASA and Boeing for allowing the spacecraft to fly. NASA is planning an uncrewed return flight as early as fall 2026.

The Starliner launched in June 2024 for a test flight to the International Space Station. During the flight, the service module experienced helium leaks and five thrusters failed from overheating. Commander Butch Wilmore had to take manual control for more than an hour after the automated system lost control.

NASA determined it was too risky for Wilmore and crewmate Suni Williams to return on the Starliner. Their planned eight-day mission stretched to 286 days.

The NASA investigation found the mission, "while ultimately successful in preserving crew safety, revealed critical vulnerabilities in the Starliner's propulsion system, NASA's oversight model, and the broader culture of commercial human spaceflight."

At a Monday, Aug. 3 press conference at Johnson Space Center, Dana Weigel, manager of NASA's Low Earth Orbit program, said the agency still has launch windows available. "I've still got capability to fly this year," Weigel said.

Both NASA and Boeing have committed to flying the next mission without a crew. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement that the agency will not put astronauts on Starliner until technical causes are understood, the propulsion system is fully qualified and investigation recommendations are carried out.

A June 2026 NASA Office of Inspector General report found that "unresolved technical issues were driven by NASA's and Boeing's overconfidence in the company's use of heritage systems, unachievable schedule, and limited flight simulation data." The OIG noted that using one of Boeing's contracted post-certification missions for an uncrewed test will cost NASA more than $300 million and force the agency to buy at least one additional crew mission from Boeing or SpaceX.

The financial picture has already shifted. NASA awarded contracts in 2014 to SpaceX ($2.6 billion) and Boeing ($4.2 billion) under the Commercial Crew Program. In November 2025, NASA and Boeing reduced the contract to $3.7 billion, cutting potential Starliner flights from six to four. SpaceX's contract was expanded to allow more missions.

SpaceX has flown 12 crew missions since 2020. Boeing has not completed one official mission.

Three astronauts with deep Starliner training have left NASA. Wilmore and Williams retired in 2025 and 2026. Mike Fincke, a 30-year astronaut who had been assigned to the Starliner-1 mission before being reassigned, retired in August 2026, Spaceflight Now reported.

Richard Jones, deputy director of the Commercial Crew Office, said at the Aug. 3 JSC press conference that astronaut assignments for a Starliner mission require roughly a year of lead time. No crew has been named.

Starliner still lacks human-rating certification. The ISS is set to be decommissioned as soon as 2030, leaving a narrow window for Boeing to prove the spacecraft can carry astronauts on official missions.