Nasa has labelled the botched 2024 Starliner mission, which left two astronauts stranded in space for months, a “Type A” mishap, on par with fatal shuttle disasters of the past, in a newly published report.
The category is the space agency’s most severe, reserved for incidents causing more than $2m (£1.49 m) in damage, the loss of a vehicle or its control, or deaths.
On Thursday, Nasa’s new boss, Jared Isaacman, blasted Boeing, which built Starliner, and the space agency for poor decision-making and leadership that led to the failed mission.
The incident drew global attention after the pilots were stuck for more than nine months in space before returning home last March.
Isaacman, an amateur jet pilot who was the first non-professional astronaut to conduct a spacewalk, took Nasa’s top job in late 2025 after a second nomination by US President Donald Trump.
His approval came after a turbulent process in which Trump put forward Isaacman’s name for the role but then withdrew it during a public feud with Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who is a close ally of Isaacman.
In a statement on Starliner’s findings, Isaacman said the spacecraft had faced issues throughout its prior recent missions but had still been accepted for the test.
“We are correcting those mistakes. Today, we are formally declaring a Type A mishap and ensuring leadership accountability so situations like this never reoccur.”
Nasa’s “Type A” grade puts the Starliner incident at the same level assigned to the fatal 2023 Columbia and 1986 Challenger space shuttle disasters.
The agency said in its statement: “While there were no injuries and the mission regained control prior to docking, this highest-level classification designation recognises there was potential for a significant mishap.”
Nasa’s 312-page report comes after the agency commissioned an independent investigation team to identify the causes behind the troubled mission.
Investigators flagged hardware failures, leadership missteps and cultural problems at the organisations that led to conditions that fell short of the space agency’s safety standards.
The report also highlighted poor engineering and a lack of oversight at Boeing, which helped turn an eight-to-14-day mission into a months-long ordeal for the test pilots, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
The pair waited months on board the International Space Station before getting a lift from a SpaceX flight in March 2025. Both pilots have since retired from the agency.
Nasa said it will accept this as the final report and is taking corrective actions to address the findings.
“While Boeing built Starliner, Nasa accepted it and launched two astronauts to space,” Isaacman said.
“To undertake missions that change the world, we must be transparent about both our successes and our shortcomings. We have to own our mistakes and ensure they never happen again.”
By BBC News
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