NASA to provide update on Boeing’s Starliner at press conference
NASA late yesterday announced it will hold a press conference at 3 pm (Pacific) on September 28, 2026 to “discuss Starliner’s development and plans for regular crew flights to and from the International Space Station.”
The conference will include NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, Dana Weigel, manager of the agency’s Low Earth Orbit Program, astronaut Woody Hoburg, and John Mulholland, vice president and program manager for Boeing’s Starliner program.
At first glance the presence of an astronaut suggests they will announce the next Starliner mission to ISS will be manned, but this is not likely. More likely it indicates NASA and Boeing have agreed on flying an unmanned cargo mission to ISS to test Boeing’s fixes on Starliner of its valve and engine problems, with Hoburg there to express PR confidence in Boeing. It is also likely they will announce a tentative schedule for at least one Starliner manned mission to follow.
What we won’t know until the conference is whether NASA or Boeing is paying for the cargo mission. NASA doesn’t have to, but it might because Boeing appears uninterested in paying for a fourth demo mission, and will thus abandon Starliner without the extra cash.
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Eric Berger the other day said his sources indicated that NASA is seriously considering paying for the cargo flight, or at least a substantial share of it. The impending wind down of Crew Dragon seems to have some people at NASA HQ spooked.
But you are right, this has yet to be announced, and if I were in the press pool for this conference, it would be the first question I would ask, if Isaacman or Weigel do not clarify it up front in their prepared remarks.