Boening Starliner Spacecraft Successfully Reaches Earth Without Crew (2 photos + 3 videos)
Boeing management hoped until the very end that their ship would be able to return the astronauts, but under pressure from NASA, they had to entrust this to their sworn competitor, Elon Musk's SpaceX. 
The long-suffering Boeing Starliner spacecraft has successfully landed in the New Mexico desert, NASA reports. The ship undocked from the ISS at 18:04 U.S. East Coast Time, and its return to Earth took about six hours.
During a briefing following the capsule's successful landing, NASA noted that Starliner had performed admirably during undocking, reentry, and landing. But there is, as they say, a catch. Certification of the ship, which the company was so eager to achieve, remains in question.
This was the third landing of the Starliner, and although it was successful, the future of the program remains unclear. Boeing and NASA had hoped that the Crew Flight Test mission would pave the way for certification of the ship, but now that is in question. Starliner's first operational flight was planned for February 2025, but it has now been pushed back to August 2025 at best.
It is noted that the Starliner was packed for an unmanned return to Earth, among its cargo were the Boeing Blue spacesuits that Williams and Wilmore wore on board the capsule. But since they are incompatible with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, they had to be “thrown away” as unnecessary.
Boeing Blue spacesuits
Recall that the Starliner spacecraft, created under contract with NASA, set off on its first manned flight on June 5. On board were astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams. Their test mission was not supposed to last more than a week, but due to problems with the ship discovered during docking with the ISS, they are still on the station. And their "space odyssey" will last until February 2025. They will return to Earth on the Crew Dragon ship, which Boeing really did not want, since SpaceX is their main competitor.
