Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returns to Earth from space station with no crew

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft came back to Earth on Saturday morning without the two astronauts who flew in it to the International Space Station back in June. 

The Starliner landed at 12:01 a.m. ET, parachuting into New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range, according to Fox News.

"I am extremely proud of the work our collective team put into this entire flight test, and we are pleased to see Starliner’s safe return," the associate administrator of Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington said in a statement, according to the outlet. 

"Even though it was necessary to return the spacecraft uncrewed, NASA and Boeing learned an incredible amount about Starliner in the most extreme environment possible," he continued. "NASA looks forward to our continued work with the Boeing team to proceed toward certification of Starliner for crew rotation missions to the space station."

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams won't return to Earth until February.

The astronauts, who were only expected to be attached to the International Space Station for eight days, have been stranded in space since June. 

Boeing's Starliner capsule encountered thruster failures and helium leaks that required the spaceship to be docked at the ISS while engineers evaluated a new computer model for the thrusters.