Space | The Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth without astronauts

Starliner -spacecraft has returned to Earth, but without the astronauts it took to the International Space Station (ISS) in June.

Starliner has suffered from technical problems. The US space agency NASA decided that it would be too dangerous for astronauts to return aboard.

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s was originally supposed to be on the space station for only eight days. The journey is now stretching to eight months. The two are not scheduled to return to Earth aboard rival SpaceX until February of next year.

In a picture taken from NASA’s live broadcast, the Starliner detaches from the space station. Picture: AFP/Nasa

Starliner independently detached from the space station early Saturday morning and returned to Earth without humans. According to the news agency Reuters, the ship seemed to have landed at the US space center in New Mexico without any problems.

Starliner is manufactured by the aviation giant Boeing. For that, the technical problems have been a setback.

Boeing assured publicly and privately that the company could be trusted to bring the astronauts home, but NASA did not share this assessment.

The Astonauts a return ride was arranged in August, Space X’s Crew Dragon. Space X is Boeing’s main competitor in the space industry.

Boeing’s reputation has suffered in recent years also due to several safety problems found in the company’s passenger planes.