Highest-Level Mission Failure Classification
NASA has officially designated the Starliner test flight as a “Type A mishap” — the agency’s highest classification for mission failures. This designation has previously been used in catastrophic incidents such as the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which claimed the life of Kalpana Chawla and six other astronauts, and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which killed seven crew members.
According to NASA, the classification reflects the “potential for a significant mishap” during the Starliner mission.
“We are formally declaring a Type A mishap and ensuring leadership accountability so situations like this never reoccur,” NASA said in a statement. The agency emphasized that corrective actions must be fully implemented before Starliner returns to flight.
Technical Failures During Docking
The investigation revealed that the most significant danger to the crew occurred during Starliner’s approach to the ISS, when multiple thrusters malfunctioned. Although enough thrusters were eventually restored to enable successful docking, officials acknowledged that the outcome could have been far worse.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that different decisions or unrecovered thrusters could have led to a very different and potentially catastrophic result.
The spacecraft’s propulsion failures ultimately forced NASA to bring Williams and Wilmore back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in March 2025.
Leadership and Decision-Making Under Scrutiny
While technical flaws were significant, NASA officials indicated that management shortcomings were even more troubling.
“Starliner has design and engineering deficiencies that must be corrected,” Isaacman said during a briefing. “But the most troubling failure revealed by this investigation is not hardware. It's decision-making and leadership.”
He warned that unchecked mismanagement could create a culture incompatible with human spaceflight. Isaacman further suggested that concerns over Boeing’s reputation may have influenced earlier internal reviews, stating that “programmatic advocacy exceeded reasonable bounds” and placed the mission and crew at unnecessary risk.
NASA Shares Responsibility
Despite the criticism directed at Boeing, NASA acknowledged its own accountability in the mission’s failures.
“We managed the contract. We accepted the vehicle, we launched the crew to space. We made decisions from docking through post-mission actions,” Isaacman said. “A considerable portion of the responsibility and accountability rests here.”
NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya described the episode as a failure on the agency’s part, expressing regret over the impact on the astronauts.
“They have so much grace, and they're so competent, the two of them, and we failed them. The agency failed them,” Kshatriya said.
Boeing’s Response and Future of Starliner
In response, Boeing stated that it remains committed to the Starliner program and has made substantial progress in implementing corrective technical and cultural changes aligned with the investigation’s findings.
However, NASA has made it clear that the spacecraft will not carry another crew until all technical issues are fully understood and resolved. Isaacman noted that, in its current state, Starliner is “less reliable for crew survival than other crewed vehicles.”
NASA concluded by reaffirming its commitment to transparency and accountability.
“To undertake missions that change the world, we must be transparent about both our successes and our shortcomings. We have to own our mistakes and ensure they never happen again,” the agency said.
The investigation marks a critical moment for both NASA and Boeing as they seek to restore confidence in the Starliner program and ensure the safety of future human spaceflight missions.
