Space Launch Schedule names White Sands landing

Space Launch Schedule listed Boeing’s Starliner-1 landing at White Sands Missile Range on May 24, adding a specific New Mexico touchdown site to the mission’s public schedule entry. The listing says the Boeing CST-100 Starliner will reenter Earth’s atmosphere after its deorbit burn and land at White Sands using parachutes. (spacelaunchschedule.com) Boeing’s own Starliner mission page says NASA and Boeing are still evaluating launch opportunities for Starliner-1, and it does not give a launch date. The company says the mission will allow in-flight validation of system upgrades implemented after the 2024 Crew Flight Test. (boeing.com) ### What exactly did the schedule entry add? The May 24 schedule entry names White Sands Missile Range as the planned landing site for Starliner-1 and describes the end-of-mission profile in operational terms. The listing says Starliner will perform a deorbit burn, reenter the atmosphere and descend under parachutes to touchdown at White Sands. (spacelaunchschedule.com) Space Launch Schedule is a public tracking site, not NASA’s mission status page, so the entry is best read as a published schedule detail rather than a final agency confirmation. (boeing.com) Still, the White Sands designation matches other public Starliner landing references. ### Why is White Sands a plausible Starliner landing site? NASA said in a September 2024 mission explainer that White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico is one of Starliner’s potential landing locations, alongside sites in Arizona and Utah, with Edwards Air Force Base available as a contingency site. (spacelaunchschedule.com) NASA said mission managers use operational and weather checks before undocking to determine the landing location. White Sands is also where Starliner has landed before. NASA said the uncrewed spacecraft landed at White Sands Space Harbor on Sept. 6, 2024, concluding the Crew Flight Test, and Boeing’s mission update used the same site description for that return. (spacelaunchschedule.com) ### What is Starliner-1 at this point? Next Spaceflight and Boeing’s Starliner page describe Starliner-1 as the next mission in the program after the troubled 2024 Crew Flight Test. Those public mission pages say the flight is now planned as a cargo-only mission to the International Space Station so NASA and Boeing can validate upgrades made after the test flight. (nasa.gov) The 2024 test mission drew scrutiny after helium leaks and thruster issues, and NASA ultimately brought Starliner back to Earth without its astronauts aboard. NASA said the spacecraft landed safely at White Sands on Sept. 6, 2024. (nasa.gov) ### Does the landing listing mean the mission date is set? Boeing’s current mission page says only that NASA and Boeing are continuing to evaluate launch opportunities for Starliner-1. The company page does not publish a firm launch date, and the schedule entry for the landing does not by itself establish a final mission timeline. (nextspaceflight.com) Public trackers including Space Launch Now and Next Spaceflight carry similar landing language for White Sands, which suggests the site has been adopted across schedule databases. Those listings, however, are secondary trackers rather than primary mission authorities. (nasa.gov) ### What should readers watch next? Boeing’s Starliner mission page is the clearest place to watch for a formal update on Starliner-1 launch timing. NASA mission updates and future schedule revisions would be the next public markers on whether White Sands remains the planned landing site for the mission. (boeing.com) (spacelaunchnow.me)