“After undocking has been confirmed, Starliner begins its return to Earth,” RIA Novosti quotes a message from the Mission Control Center in Houston as saying.
The undocking order was given at 18:04 US Eastern Standard Time (01:04 Moscow time). Starliner is expected to land in New Mexico at midnight Washington time (07:00 Moscow time).
The spacecraft will deliver spent materials and cargo from the ISS to Earth, NASA said.
This was the first test flight of a Boeing spacecraft to the ISS with a crew. In June, it carried American astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams to the station.
Wilmore and Williams were originally scheduled to spend eight days on the ISS, but due to technical issues with Starliner, their flight will now last until February 2025.
The other day it was reported that the Starliner stuck on the ISS started making strange sounds. American astronauts reported this to Earth, suggesting that it could be due to problems in the connection between the ship and the station.
