Boeing's Starliner has left the International Space Station and is making its way back to Earth for a landing in the New Mexico desert. NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore could do little more than watch from the orbital outpost as the spacecraft that brought them there in June undocked autonomously and departed without them.

The capsule, which returned without astronauts, and other space programs at Boeing have suffered many delays and cost overruns.