Boeing Starliner returning empty, NASA to use SpaceX to get astronauts [Video]

Boeing will return its Starliner capsule from the International Space Station without the NASA astronauts that it delivered to orbit in early June, the agency announced on Saturday.

With Starliner coming back to Earth empty, NASA will now have astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams return via SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which is expected to launch its ninth regular mission to the ISS for the agency on Sept. 24.

Ultimately, Wilmore and Williams will stay at the ISS for about six more months before flying home in February on SpaceX’s Crew-9 vehicle. The test flight was originally intended to last about nine days.

The decision to bring Starliner back from the ISS empty marks a dramatic about-face for NASA and Boeing, as the organizations were previously adamant that the capsule was the …