CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — It looks like NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will be staying on board the International Space Station longer than they expected as the space agency and Boeing announced it is canceling their June 26 landing date.

“The move off Wednesday, June 26, deconflicts Starliner’s undocking and landing from a series of planned International Space Station spacewalks while allowing mission teams time to review propulsion system data,” both Boeing and NASA stated in a joint press release on Friday night.

The astronauts were supposed to land at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico at 4:51 a.m. ET.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said the Starliner Crew Flight Test team is “letting the data drive our decision making” as they are managing the five small helium leaks and thruster issues on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft.  

One issue or another has plagued the maiden crewed flight of Starliner, from launch attempts to docking with the ISS on Thursday, June 6.

The pair of seasoned astronauts were supposed to stay on the ISS for a minimum of eight days but have found that their return home has been canceled once again.

They were supposed to be landing back down to Earth on Saturday, June 22, but that was moved to give teams more time to manage the helium leaks and the thruster issue, where one of the five aft reaction control system thrusters used to maneuver Starliner cannot be re-selected.

The leaks were discovered in the flange of the spacecraft’s service module’s thruster system, which is believed to be caused from a faulty seal.

But Stich said the Boeing spacecraft is just fine.

“Starliner is performing well in orbit while docked to the space station,” Stich said in a Friday press release. “We are strategically using the extra time to clear a path for some critical station activities while completing readiness for Butch and Suni’s return on Starliner, and gaining valuable insight into the system upgrades we will want to make for post-certification missions.”

While no new return date has been given, the press release stated there are plenty of supplies on board the ISS.

“The crew is not pressed for time to leave the station since there are plenty of supplies in orbit, and the station’s schedule is relatively open through mid-August,” stated the press release.