NASA and Boeing Modify Commercial Crew Contract: Starliner-1 Now Cargo-Only Mission
Summary: On April 29, 2026, NASA and Boeing formally announced modifications to the Starliner commercial crew spacecraft contract. The first operational mission, Starliner-1, will no longer carry astronauts and has been converted to an uncrewed cargo verification flight to test propulsion system improvements. This marks another major adjustment for Boeing's Starliner program following the 2024 Crew Flight Test setbacks.
Credit: SpacePolicyOnline.com
Sources (original pages)
April 29, 2026.
Details
Contract Modification Background
NASA and Boeing signed a fixed-price contract in 2014, with Boeing receiving $4.2 billion to develop the Starliner spacecraft, providing "dissimilar redundancy" alongside SpaceX's $2.6 billion Crew Dragon. However, Starliner's development path has been far more turbulent than anticipated:
- December 2019: First uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT) uncovered serious defects
- May 2022: Second uncrewed flight test (OFT-2) succeeded
- June 2024: Crew Flight Test (CFT) launched NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, but propulsion system anomalies occurred during docking; the two astronauts ultimately spent approximately 8 months on the ISS instead of the planned 8 days
Key Contract Changes
According to NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich, the main contract modifications include:
- Reduced operational mission count: The original contract called for 6 crewed operational launches, now reduced to 4, with the remaining 2 as optional
- Starliner-1 converted to cargo-only: The first operational mission will no longer carry astronauts, instead being converted to an uncrewed cargo verification flight to test propulsion system improvements
- Targeted launch window: Starliner-1 is planned for April 2026 (no earlier than)
Contract Value
NASA told SpacePolicyOnline that Boeing's current contract value is $3.732 billion with a total potential value of $4.456 billion. As of February 2025, Boeing reported approximately $2 billion in losses due to Starliner.
Program Outlook
If Starliner passes NASA certification, the remaining 4 crewed missions will proceed as planned. SpaceX's Crew Dragon has already successfully completed 18 missions (11 NASA, 7 private), while Starliner has only completed 3 flight tests to date. With ISS now targeting retirement in 2030, the window for Starliner to prove itself is narrowing rapidly.