Updated – August 24, 2024 12:56 pm IST

Published – August 23, 2024 05:42 am IST – WASHINGTON:

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo en route to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their liftoff on the Boeing Starliner capsule to the international space station. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

NASA on Thursday said it expects to announce on Saturday its decision on whether the two astronauts who rode Boeing’s glitchy Starliner spacecraft to the International Space Station will need a SpaceX vehicle to return to Earth.

“NASA’s decision on whether to return Starliner to Earth with astronauts aboard is expected no earlier than Saturday, Aug. 24 at the conclusion of an agency-level review,” the space agency said in a statement.

Starliner launched its first two astronauts into space in June as a crucial test before it can receive NASA approval for routine flights. But what was supposed to be an eight-day mission docked to the ISS has been drawn out by months after the capsule sprang leaks and some of its thrusters failed.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule, atop an Atlas V rocket, sits on the launch pad during sunrise at Space Launch Complex 41 on June 1, 2024 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
| Photo Credit: AP

Boeing took another crack on June 1 at launching astronauts for the first time aboard its new space capsule, after a delay for leak checks and rocket repairs.

The company’s Starliner capsule was due to rocket away at midday with a pair of test pilots to the International Space Station for a weeklong stay.

The test drive should have happened years ago. But problems kept piling up, most recently a leak that went unnoticed until the first launch attempt with a crew in early May.

NASA wants a backup to SpaceX, which has been flying astronauts for four years.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket is providing the lift from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.