NASA has formally classified the test flight of Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crewed Flight Test as a Type A mishap—the agency’s highest level of incident classification—due to the loss of spacecraft manoeuvrability during docking and the resulting financial damages. The space agency released a comprehensive report on Thursday detailing the findings of a Program Investigation Team tasked with examining the test flight, of which Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore were part of.
The investigation into the Commercial Crew Program mission identified a critical “interplay” of hardware failures, leadership missteps, and cultural breakdowns that created risks inconsistent with the agency’s human spaceflight safety standards.
Accountability and programmatic pressures
During a news conference addressing the report, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman emphasised the need for transparency regarding the mission’s shortcomings. Isaacman noted that while Boeing manufactured the craft, the agency bears responsibility for the oversight that led to the orbital crisis. He pointed specifically to the pressure of maintaining two separate commercial providers for ISS transport as a factor that may have clouded professional judgement.
The Boeing Starliner spacecraft has faced challenges throughout its uncrewed and most recent crewed missions. While Boeing built Starliner, NASA accepted it and launched two astronauts to space. The technical difficulties encountered during docking with the International Space Station were very apparent,” Isaacman said.
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. Beyond technical issues, it is clear that NASA permitted overarching programmatic objectives of having two providers capable of transporting astronauts to-and-from orbit to influence engineering and operational decisions, especially during and immediately after the mission. We are correcting those mistakes. Today, we are formally declaring a Type A mishap and ensuring leadership accountability so situations like this never reoccur. We look forward to working with Boeing as both organisations implement corrective actions and return Starliner to flight only when ready,” he said.
A mission extended by anomaly
The Starliner mission, which launched on June 5, 2024, was originally intended to last between eight and 14 days. However, the mission was extended to 93 days after propulsion system anomalies were detected while the spacecraft was in orbit.
Following extensive data reviews and ground testing at the White Sands Test Facility, NASA leadership made the high-stakes decision to return the spacecraft autonomously, leaving astronauts Wilmore and Williams behind on the International Space Station.
While Starliner landed in New Mexico in September 2024, the two astronauts remained in orbit for several additional months, eventually returning safely to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew-9 mission in March 2025.
Corrective actions and future flight readiness
The independent Program Investigation Team, chartered in February 2025, concluded its work this past November. While the technical root cause analysis is still ongoing 18 months after the spacecraft’s return, NASA has accepted the team’s findings as the final report.
The agency is now focusing on implementing corrective actions to ensure that lessons learned from the Starliner mission are applied to all future NASA programmes.
The Type A mishap designation serves as a formal recognition of the potential for a significant catastrophe, despite the fact that no injuries occurred and control was eventually regained during the 2024 docking sequence.
NASA and Boeing continue to work in tandem to resolve the remaining technical hurdles and incorporate the investigative team’s recommendations. The agency maintains that the Starliner will not return to flight until all safety thresholds are met.
Other mishaps of similar category
The Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003) disasters are the most prominent examples, where the total loss of the shuttle orbiters and the deaths of seven crew members in each instance mandated the highest level of investigation. Indian-origin astronaut Kalpana Chawla lost her life in the Columbia disaster.
Similarly, the Apollo 1 fire in 1967, which claimed the lives of three astronauts during a pre-launch test, was a foundational Type A event that led to a complete overhaul of NASA’s safety culture and spacecraft design.
Beyond loss of life, NASA also applies the Type A status to high-value robotic failures and near-misses.
The Genesis solar wind sample return mission in 2004 earned this classification after its parachutes failed to deploy, causing the capsule to crater into the Utah desert.
Likewise, the DART mission in 2005 was declared a Type A mishap when the autonomous spacecraft collided with its target satellite due to a navigation software error.
By categorising the Starliner mission alongside these events, NASA is signalling that the technical and organisational failures encountered were of the highest consequence, necessitating a level of scrutiny typically reserved for total mission losses.
