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NASA, Boeing pivot Starliner-1 mission from 4-person astronaut flight to cargo-onlyNovember 24, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft is lifted at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Image: NASA/Kim ShiflettNASA and Boeing also agreed to reduce the number of flights NASA’s is obligated to buy from Boeing from six down to four “with the remaining two available as options.” And with the decision for Starliner-1 to be cargo only, that means NASA may only have three flights with Starliner that will carry its astronauts to the ISS.
If Starliner-1 is a nominal flight, it opens the door for Starliner-2 to become Boeing’s first operational mission to the space station with crew onboard.
“The next commercial flight to the International Space Station without a specific provider assigned is targeted no earlier than October 2026. This flight will handover with NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission, which is targeted to launch in early 2026,” a NASA spokesperson said.
What about the astronauts?The next crew of a Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is now somewhat of a mystery, at least from a public perspective. Scott Tingle, the NASA astronaut who was named Starliner-1 commander in September 2022 was named as the newest chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office this month.
When Tingle was announced, the agency also said astronaut Mike Fincke would be the Starliner-1 pilot. However, he and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui, another astronaut assigned to Starliner-1, were both tasked to fly as members of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission, which is currently in progress.
Spaceflight Now reached out to the Canadian Space Agency to see learn more about the fate of its astronaut, Joshua Kutryk, who was assigned to fly the Starliner-1 mission as a mission specialist. We’re waiting to hear back.
Eric Berger, Ars Technica’s senior space reporter, reported last week that NASA astronaut
Luke Delaney was also in line to train for the Starliner-1 mission at one point, but has been reassigned to the SpaceX Crew-13 mission. (...)
The only other active astronaut who has been publicly confirmed to have trained on the Starliner systems is CFT Pilot Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams. However, given that Starliner-2 would be her fourth mission after already accumulating more than 600 days in space, she may run up against radiation limits for NASA astronauts.
Below are the list of astronauts who have retired from active service who trained to fly on Starliner (either for CFT or Starliner-1):
Josh Cassada
Jeanette Epps
Chris Ferguson
Koichi Wakata (JAXA)
Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore
https://spaceflightnow.com/2025/11/24/nasa-boeing-pivot-starliner-1-mission-from-4-person-astronaut-flight-to-cargo-only/https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/11/nasa-confirms-that-starliners-next-mission-will-be-cargo-only/https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/commercialcrew/2025/11/24/nasa-boeing-modify-commercial-crew-contract/