The Boeing Starliner finally plopped down in the New Mexico desert last week after spending three months in orbit. The beleaguered spacecraft suffered technical problems during its rendezvous with the International Space Station.

It'd be reasonable to think Washington's space economy has a lot riding on Boeing's Starliner, the spacecraft that left two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station and headed back to Earth with an empty cabin Friday.

Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunisa “Suni” Williams will have to wait, NASA leaders said, until February of next year to catch a ride back to Earth. And, much to Boeing’s chagrin, they’ll do it on a SpaceX spacecraft.

Despite a test flight that docked with the International Space Station but left the Boeing Starliner capsule returning empty, the spacecraft still could become a significant part of NASA's commercial payload program.

Wilmore and Williams will stay on the International Space Station until February 2025, when they’ll return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The Conversation U.S. asked former commander of the International Space Station Michael Fossum about NASA’s decision to return the craft uncrewed,

The Starliner slammed into the discernible atmosphere 400,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean before descending to a parachute-and-airbag assisted touchdown.

After Starliner developed thruster problems and leaks in the helium system that keeps the thruster system pressurized, NASA decided that the ship could not be trusted to carry Williams and Wilmore home safely. They will return instead in February aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft wearing the white suits adapted to the Dragon ships.

NASA and Boeing will begin to assess what went wrong with the spacecraft’s thrusters and try to determine whether Boeing will have to make design changes.

A former astronaut explains what Starliner’s return means for the future of NASA, Boeing’s troubled space program, and the crew left behind on the ISS.

Speculation is growing about the Starliner. The troubled Boeing space capsule returned to Earth last week uncrewed after undocking from the International Space Station.

Wilmore flying in space and me thinking and writing about the future of NASA's human spaceflight programs. I couldn't help but wonder: After all that happened in the last decade, has the Commercial Crew Program been a success?