Wilmore and Williams, both former U.S. Navy test pilots, expected to remain in orbit for about 10 days on the mission, which was called Crew Flight Test (CFT). The main goal was to show that Starliner is ready to carry astronauts to and from the ISS, so that the spacecraft can start flying operational, long-duration missions in the near future.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams departed the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule for a long-awaited trip back to Earth, nine months after their faulty Boeing Starliner craft upended what was to be a roughly week-long test mission.