SpaceX Could End Up Rescuing Stranded Astronauts If Boeing's Starliner Fails To Fix The Problem: Report (X image@Zagonel85)

As Boeing Starliner suffered helium leaks, two astronauts were stranded at the International Space Station (ISS).  Meanwhile, it is reported that SpaceX, the rival of Boeing, could have potentially come to their rescue.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams set forth for the space on June 5. They were supposed to be at the ISS for nine days. But the issues with their spaceship left them up in the air, without knowing when they will return home. NASA is trying hard to solve the issue.

Media reports suggest that SpaceX could end up bringing the astronauts home aboard its Crew Dragon spaceship.

If that happens, it would be a severe blow to the aerospace giant Boeing, which has spent about $1.5 billion in cost overruns, and is beyond its initial $4.5 billion contract with NASA, in hopes of making Starliner a second option to reach the ISS.

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Though NASA and Boeing officials have reiterated that the current problems aboard the Starliner don’t indicate the need for SpaceX to lend a hand, the Crew Dragon is up for it.

The SpaceX ship has sent four astronauts to the ISS in March this year. It capable of carrying two to four passengers at a time, but it can fit additional occupants in case emergency.

SpaceX is the sole commercial company approved to transport astronauts and cargo to the space station since 2020.

Michael Lembeck, an aerospace engineering associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who served as a consultant for Boeing’s spaceflight division from 2009 to 2014, told The New York Post that the Starliner is still likely to be Wilmore and Williams’ ride back to Earth.

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“Right now, I’d say the need for SpaceX to step up is very low…we would have to see a big problem come up in the next couple of days to warrant that reaction”, said Lembeck.

While the capsule carrying the astronauts will make it back to Earth, the service module, which stores the engines, fuel and the helium tanks, will not, he further added.