NASA’s Deputy Administrator for Space Operations Ken Bowersox acknowledged that the agency continues to face challenges with Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft during a press conference on Aug. 14. Despite a previously announced mid-August deadline for a decision on the return of two astronauts trapped aboard the spacecraft, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, NASA has delayed the decision by another two weeks.

“We don’t have a hard cut in this situation. We can juggle the deadlines,” Bowersox said. But he acknowledged that the situation is getting increasingly difficult now that Wilmore and Williams will spend eight months in space instead of the planned two weeks.

“It’s getting harder and harder with the supplies we’re using. “We’re getting to the point where we really have to make a decision in the last week of August,” Bowersox admitted.

NASA’s chief astronaut Joe Acaba noted that the eight-month mission to the space station still “fits within the standard duration of a long-duration mission.”

The first manned test flight of Boeing’s Starliner aircraft has failed, and it’s clear that NASA is trying to buy itself more time to make a decision. The agency and its contractor have invested billions of dollars in the spacecraft’s development and will likely do everything possible to turn it into a profit, despite the risks involved.

Asked if this could be Starliner’s last flight, Bowersox was vague. “All I can say is we plan to press for two suppliers,” he said, referring to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, which is being developed under the same Commercial Crew program as Starliner.

NASA previously said it was looking into the possibility of sending Wilmore and Williams back to SpaceX’s Crew-9 mission due to ongoing technical issues with Starliner. The agency now plans to conduct a Flight Readiness Review in the next two weeks to assess Starliner’s readiness for flight and resolve any issues that arise. This process will help the agency determine whether Starliner is mission-ready and can be used to return astronauts from the ISS.

The situation on Starliner is becoming increasingly tense as Willmore and Williams spend eight months in space instead of the planned two weeks, but NASA remains hopeful that they can find a solution to the problem and successfully complete the mission.