Astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams' stay on the ISS may be extended until February next year due to problems with the Boeing spacecraft. NASA officials confirmed at a press conference today that they are developing contingency plans to return astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams from the International Space Station (ISS) early next year. If they can't get on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft sooner, the backup plan would rely on SpaceX's Crew 9 mission, but that launch has been postponed while officials decide what to do next.

After the Boeing Starliner crew successfully launched on June 5 (after several delays), the two astronauts were originally scheduled to spend about a week on the ISS before parachuting back to Earth. But Starliner suffered an engine failure and a helium leak while docking with the ISS, and further delays left astronauts stranded in orbit for more than two months while Boeing and NASA tried to determine whether the ship was still safe to use.

The June crewed test flight was originally planned seven years ago, and Boeing's Starliner program has faced significant delays and cost overruns. If SpaceX does end up returning the two astronauts to Earth, it would be another misstep after Boeing pleaded guilty to criminal fraud a year after a door on one of its planes jammed and exploded during flight.

Tests at NASA's White Sands Test Center suggested a deformed Teflon seal was a potential cause of the Starliner's engine failure, but NASA isn't expected to make a final decision on whether to return Williams and Wilmore to the Boeing spacecraft until mid-August.

Using Starliner is still NASA’s preferred solution, according to officials, but the backup plan would see SpaceX send just two astronauts to the ISS aboard a late September Crew-9 launch, leaving two spots available for Williams and Wilmore to use to return in February of next year. Should that happen, Boeing will reconfigure the Starliner craft so that it can return to Earth uncrewed ahead of the SpaceX Crew-9 launch.