Boeing "incredibly excited" to serve as nation's only astronaut transportation - arstechnica.com

NASA announced on September 28, 2026 that it will exercise options to purchase two additional crewed flights on Boeing's Starliner, bringing its total to six missions, while also providing extra financial support to return the vehicle to service.
The agency will pay Boeing $359 million to help rebuild the reaction control system thrusters that overheated in flight and to certify United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket for human missions after the Atlas V retires.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the moves reflect SpaceX's plans to sunset older platforms like Falcon and Crew Dragon as the company concentrates on its next-generation Starship.
Starliner has struggled to enter service, with problems on uncrewed test flights in 2019 and 2022 and thruster issues that nearly caused the loss of two astronauts during its first crewed test flight in June 2024.
The program has cost Boeing more than $2 billion in losses, and NASA has already paid $5.1 billion under the fixed-price Commercial Crew contract; the additional funding suggests Boeing had considered walking away.
Current plans include an uncrewed Starliner-1 demonstration flight targeted for December 2026 or January 2027, followed by three contracted crewed missions, with Starliner-2 potentially flying in mid-2028 under veteran astronaut Woody Hoburg as commander.