Raphael Stevens

Thirty-five athletes are supported by Bandit Running’s Unsponsored Project, an effort to challenge the standard sponsorship model for professional athletes and boost up-and-coming competitors.
Bandit’s deals have a built-in release clause, cofounder Tim West said, allowing an easy out for athletes who get a traditional sponsorship offer during the trials.
Considering the costs of training, flights, hotels and apparel, even just showing up to compete in the Olympic trials can be expensive.

Christopher Royster, left, and JT Smith, athletes who participate in Bandit Running’s Unsponsored Project, at the 2024 Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Courtesy: Bandit Running

There’s an army of unsponsored athletes commanding attention at the U.S. Track & Field Olympic Trials this year, decked out in all-black, logo-less gear.
The 35 athletes are supported by apparel company Bandit Running’s Unsponsored Project, an effort to challenge the standard sponsorship model for professional athletes and boost up-and-coming competitors.

Unsponsored athletes in track and field would typically purchase their own apparel bearing the emblems of major brands, effectively providing free advertising for the companies. Instead, Bandit Running offers Olympic hopefuls the all-black kits and warmups — along with short-term endorsement deals.
Bandit co-founder Tim West said the company is giving out at least 35 two-week deals for unsponsored runners at the trials, a U.S. Olympian’s gateway into the four-year games. The deals consist of unbranded apparel, a platform and cash to cover expenses. Last year, Bandit partnered with nine athletes.
“We’re really hoping for a new sponsorship model where brands take a healthy piece of their budget and apply it to the kind of amateur, sub-elite athlete to help grow the sport. I think when you lift up, sort of the bottom, everything pushes up,” West told CNBC.
Bandit’s deals have a built-in release clause, West said, allowing an easy out for athletes who get a traditional sponsorship offer during the trials.
Given the high prices associated with competing, West said unsponsored athletes are “investing in themselves,” posing an opportunity for brands to step in and help out.

And, the all-black, logo-free kits help call attention to which athletes may be available to strike a longer-term deal.
Among them is Courtney Okolo, a 400-meter runner.
After winning a gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics and being sponsored by Nike for four years, Okolo, 30, is embracing the Unsponsored Project. She said getting support while competing without a sponsorship is difficult, but Bandit’s initiative makes it feel like she isn’t doing it all on her own.

Courtney Okolo, an athlete participating in Bandit Running’s Unsponsored Project, at the 2024 Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Courtesy: Bandit Running

Considering the costs of training, flying to Eugene, Oregon, for the trials, booking a hotel and buying apparel to compete in, Okolo said, even just showing up to compete is expensive. Though she added that she’s been able to pace herself with money acquired over four years via her previous sponsorship, only a few athletes within the sport have such partnerships.
“I know for a lot of athletes, it’s super hard,” Okolo said. “They could still be running well, but financially, they can’t do it because training and all that takes so much of your time. It’s hard to have another full-time career to support yourself financially and train and be the best athlete. So, sometimes you have to just pick one or the other, and that can be really tough.”
Since graduating college, Brandee Johnson, 26, has been working two jobs and a side gig while training for hours a day to make her Olympic dreams happen. Johnson is an unsponsored track athlete who qualified for the Olympic trials this year.
Johnson said she joined the Unsponsored Project as an alternative avenue to achieving her goal, while attaching her name to something that is making a positive impact in peoples’ lives.
“It helps me be more comfortable and take a deep breath and be like, ‘Okay, I can do this, and I have everything that I need in order to be successful,'” Johnson said. More

The Summer Fancy Foods Show, hosted by the Specialty Foods Association, returned to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.
The trade show has gained a reputation for being a place to spot the next big flavors, foods and drinks that will dominate menus and grocery store shelves.
Some of the standout trends included honey as a flavor, taking fish to go and more adventurous salami flavors.

The budding trends in food sound like a return to the diet of cavemen: Fish is the hottest protein, honey is the flavor du jour and game meat is an upgrade to charcuterie boards.
That’s according to the hundreds of items on display at the Summer Fancy Food Show, a trade show hosted by the Specialty Food Association that has gained a reputation as a place to spot the next big flavors, foods and drinks that will dominate menus and grocery store shelves. The annual show returned to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York this week, running Sunday through Tuesday.

More than 2,400 companies exhibited their foods and drinks for attendees, which include restaurant operators, specialty food retailers and trendspotters. Past show trends that are making their way to mainstream consumers’ palettes include yuzu, mushrooms and sophisticated alcohol substitutes.
Previous shows have also been a springboard for small brands seeking a wider audience. Honest Tea, Ben & Jerry’s and Tate’s Bake Shop are among the companies that attended the show in their early days on their way to becoming well-known consumer brands now owned by the industry’s biggest players.
Here are some highlights from this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show:

Honey — as a flavor

Owl Creek Organics & Natural Products’ lineup of honey spreads at the Summer Fancy Foods Show
Amelia Lucas | CNBC

Humans have been eating honey for thousands of years, but it’s taking center stage as a flavor with some food and beverage makers. In the SFA’s preliminary report on the show, its trendspotters called out honey, noting its health benefits.
Honey was the star in both foods and drinks across the show. Green Bee showed off its honey soda, which includes a Honeycomb Cider flavor. Owl Creek Organics & Natural Flavors displayed honey spreads, with flavors ranging from caffe mocha to lemon poppyseed. And Dutch company Klepper & Klepper used honey as a flavor for their licorice.

Tinned fish

Krill Arctic Foods’ tinned krill meat
Amelia Lucas | CNBC

In years past, tinned fish was relegated primarily to booths in the Spanish and Portuguese pavilions. But this year, exhibitors showed off their tinned fish products across the show floor.
TikTok helped fuel the tinned fish trend last year, boosting sales of canned sardines. Now specialty food companies are responding.
This isn’t the canned tuna of yore. There are more flavors, different seafood varieties and trendier packaging. Wildfish Cannery, an Alaska-based company that was founded in 1987, showed off a new retro design for its sockeye salmon, giving it a more upscale feel. Krill Arctic Foods exhibited its canned krill meat, which may lack the same curb appeal on its packaging but boasts about the food’s nutritional profile.

Fish to go

Acme Smoked Fish’s Lox in a Box kits on display at the company’s booth
Amelia Lucas | CNBC

Exhibitors also showed off new ways to eat fish on the go, hoping to capitalize on consumers’ desire for convenience and more protein in their diets. The association named “satisfying snacks” as one of the trends that it’s been watching.
Acme Smoked Fish highlighted its new Lox in a Box snack kits, available with cream cheese or avocado. Legend of Master International, an Asian food supplier, sampled its Kani fish cake sticks, made to eat like string cheese or for cooking.

Upgraded charcuterie

Fossil Farms’ array of salami flavors, including lamb and bison
Amelia Lucas | CNBC

Like tinned fish, the popularity of charcuterie boards owes a lot to social media, where users can dazzle their followers with elaborate displays of preserved meats, cheeses and fruit.
Companies at the Summer Fancy Food Show showed off some new options to level up the charcuterie — especially the salami. Tempesta Artisan Salumi offered up black truffle-flavored salami, while Salt & Twine’s selection included a mezcal and salted lime flavor.
But exhibitors weren’t just having fun with the flavors. Some are looking beyond pork to make the cured meat. Driftless Provisions’ salami uses elk, venison and bison alongside pork. Fossil Farms’ salami lineup included lamb and wagyu beef.

Pairing snacks

Wine Chips’ Sel Gris-flavored chips are meant to be paired with sparkling wines
Amelia Lucas | CNBC

What’s a cocktail or glass of wine without a snack to go with it? Targeting consumers who need help finding the perfect pairing, both Wine Chips and The Drinks Bakery showed off their snacks, created to be eaten with specific alcoholic drinks.
The Drinks Bakery, a Scottish company, sells “drinks biscuits.” Its parmesan, toasted pine nuts and basil biscuits (called crackers in the U.S.) can be eaten with roughly 20 drinks, from a nonalcoholic lager to whisky highball.
Wine Chips, on the other hand, sells thick-cut potato cuts specifically made for snacking while sipping wine. For example, its Sel Gris flavor, named after the French sea salt, is made to be paired with any sparkling wine, like Champagne.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Car buyers entering dealer showrooms for the foreseeable future may have a new challenge: an alphabet soup of “electrified” vehicle offerings.
As all-electric vehicle adoption occurs slower than many expected, automakers are increasingly releasing hybrid vehicle models as alternative options to EVs and traditional gas-powered engines.
Each type of vehicle may be better for a different kind of customer. Here’s a breakdown of all the options on the electrified vehicle market.

GM launched ‘EV Live,’ a free online platform that connects electric vehicle owners or consumers who have questions about zero-emissions cars and trucks with an expert who can answer them.
Courtesy: GM

DETROIT — Purchasing a vehicle has never been that easy. But shoppers entering traditional dealer showrooms for the foreseeable future may have a new challenge: An alphabet soup of “electrified” vehicle offerings.
As all-electric vehicle adoption crawls along in the U.S., automakers are increasingly releasing various hybrid vehicles as alternative options to EVs and traditional gas-powered engines. A variety of models means more customer choice, but also more complexity for automakers and consumers, many of whom are returning to the new vehicle market for the first time in years following unprecedented supply chain shortages and record used vehicle prices.   

“More choice in the marketplace is good for consumers, but only if they understand the differences,” said Paul Waatti, director of industry analysis at AutoPacific. “There needs to be more clarity on what the terms and acronyms actually mean, and what the potential benefits and drawbacks are.”
A car shopper today has their pick of traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles; mild-hybrid electric vehicles (MHEVs); hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs); plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs); fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), also commonly known as EVs. Also coming later this year from Stellantis: range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) that are similar to plug-in hybrid vehicles but can exclusively function as an EV, with its electric motors powered by a gas engine.
Each type of vehicle may be better for a different kind of customer. All except EVs and fuel-cell vehicles continue to offer a traditional internal combustion engine combined with “electrified” technologies such as a battery or motor to assist in performance or fuel economy.
Heather Seymour, of St. Johns, Florida, said she did quite a bit of research prior to purchasing a 2022 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, known as a 4xe model.
“I knew I wanted to kind of dip my toe in the water of the hybrids. I wasn’t ready to go full electric, so the plug-in was definitely of interest to me,” said Seymour, who said she typically uses the all-electric range of the SUV, except on longer trips. “The more we learned about it, the more we figured out what we wanted.”

EV naming

While consumers may not need to know every acronym or technology to find their right model, automakers aren’t exactly helping the situation with their consumer-facing naming.
For example, Hyundai’s Genesis brand calls its all-electric vehicles “electrified,” while many others reserve that term for hybrids. Chrysler’s Pacifica minivan is a plug-in hybrid labeled as a regular “hybrid,” and Toyota markets some of its traditional hybrids as “hybrid EVs.” Stellantis says its REEV vehicles are not PHEVs, despite operating similarly.
“Every automaker is using different terms. There’s no standardization, and that causes some confusion on the consumer side,” Waatti said.

GM’s 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV (right) next to a gas-powered Chevy Equinox on May 16, 2024 in Detroit.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Some automakers such as General Motors also use traditional nameplates such as the Chevrolet Blazer and Equinox for new EVs that share little to nothing with their gas-powered counterparts other than the name.
Stellantis’ Jeep also uses the “Wagoneer” moniker for two large gas-powered SUVs as well as a smaller, all-electric Wagoneer “S” SUV.
Jeep CEO Antonio Filosa has said he isn’t worried about any confusion, as the brand has a strong naming heritage and customers can decide which vehicle is best for their needs.
“I believe that we need education, but after education we have a lot of choices for the consumer,” he said during a recent interview. “It’s all for the benefit of the consumer. They will have a lot of flexibility.”

Education is key

One thing automotive executives from Japan and South Korea to Detroit and Germany can agree on is the need for consumer education.
Whether vehicles are electrified or all-electric, they’re critical for automakers to meet tightening emissions and fuel economy targets as well as to build production scale, reduce prices and increase profits.
“We don’t want to force a customer to do something they’re not ready for,” Kia America VP of Marketing Russell Wager told CNBC earlier this year. “We’re trying our best to educate them.”

2024 Jeep Wagoneer S EV

Kia and its dealers have put out myth-busting pages online to answer concerns or frequently asked questions about EVs and hybrids. They range from technical questions about batteries to practical questions like whether you can go through a car wash in an EV (you can).
GM has taken it a step further. The Detroit automaker launched “EV Live” in 2022. It’s an online video platform, now known as “GM Energy Live,” that allows participants to interact one-on-one with EV specialists and learn about electric vehicles and charging.
Ford Motor recently launched its own video-based training program, geared toward its more than 3,000 U.S. franchised dealers to improve customer service, better engage employees and provide dealers and the company with more data to help in selling the vehicles.
Auto executives say it’s up to the companies as well as their dealers to be trained and educated about the benefits of the vehicles, whatever they may be.
“Each customer, in the end, is very different,” said Jérémie Papin, chair of Nissan Americas, earlier this year. “I think it’s what the vehicle can do for them,” not necessarily how the technology works, he said.

Automotive alphabet soup

The automotive industry has more powertrain and “propulsion” options than ever before. Here’s a breakdown:

Internal combustion engine (ICE): A “traditional” vehicle with an engine that’s fueled with gasoline or diesel.
Mild-hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV): An ICE vehicle that functions largely like a non=hybrid vehicle but may include minimal electrified features such as a small battery, regenerative braking or electric motor.
Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV): Think of the Toyota Prius, a vehicle that has a hybrid powertrain system combined with an engine.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV): These vehicles feature an internal combustion engine combined with a hybrid system, including a larger battery than traditional hybrid vehicles as well as a plug to recharge the vehicle’s battery. They typically allow drivers to travel a certain number of miles using the battery before the engine is needed to power the car or truck.
Battery-electric vehicle (BEV): These all-electric vehicles do not feature an internal combustion engine. Instead, they contain an electric motor that’s powered by a large battery. They need to be recharged using an electrical outlet and charging port or charging station.
Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV): Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles and equipment operate much like BEVs but are powered by electricity generated from hydrogen and oxygen instead of pure batteries, which commonly include lithium. They’re filled up with a nozzle, similar to traditional gas and diesel vehicles.
Range-extended electric vehicles (REEV): These are an emerging technology that largely function as a PHEV, however after the battery runs out of energy to power the vehicle, an engine works as a generator to exclusively power electric motors. The vehicle still drives like an EV instead of having the engine directly power the vehicle’s motion.

Consumer adoption

According to Cox Automotive, 96% of those intending to buy a vehicle in the next 24 months could be enticed to consider an EV earlier than a three- to five-year window if they had greater knowledge of how EV ownership works.
That was true for Florida resident Seymour as well as Kevin Storimans, of Winnipeg, Canada, who leased a Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in. He said he wasn’t ready for an all-electric vehicle so he decided to lease the plug-in as a way to save money on fuel and as a potential stepping stone to an EV.
“It’s the best of both worlds. You got your gas engine. You got some electric range,” said Storimans, who previously drove a V-8-powered Jeep. “Do your research. There’s so much information and misinformation out there on PHEVs and electric vehicles.”
Consumers spend more time researching EVs on average than they do traditional gas-powered vehicles, according to Cox Automotive. The company found roughly 9 out of 10 EV buyers already have a vehicle in mind for purchase before they visit a dealership or order online.
“There’s a lot of information out there. It’s hard to explain,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox Automotive director of industry insights. “The education is so critical. It’s the awareness, the education and the engagement for consumers.”

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Ford Motor expects to introduce a $30,000 all-electric vehicle that will be profitable in roughly two and a half years, CEO Jim Farley said Friday during the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Farley said Americans need to “get back in love” with small cars instead of larger ones, a surprising statement given a majority or Ford’s profits come from trucks.
Farley said it is crucial for Ford to make profitable EVs in the next five years as Chinese automakers continue to expand globally.

An electric Ford truck is displayed during the Electrify Expo D.C. in Washington, D.C., on July 23, 2023.
Nathan Howard | Getty Images

Ford Motor expects to introduce a $30,000 all-electric vehicle that will be profitable in roughly two and a half years, CEO Jim Farley said Friday during the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Farley did not release many other details about the vehicle, which is being developed by a Ford “skunkworks” team, but said its main competitors are expected to be Chinese automakers such as BYD and an anticipated entry-level car from U.S. EV leader Tesla.

Farley said Ford is first focusing on smaller EVs instead of larger all-electric trucks and SUVs, which have historically been gas-powered profit engines for the company, because such vehicles are “never going to make money.”
“You have to make a radical change as an [automaker] to get to a profitable EV. The first thing we have to do is really put all of our capital toward smaller, more affordable EVs,” Farley said during an interview with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin. “That’s the duty cycle that we’ve now found that really matches. These big, huge, enormous EVs, they’re never going to make money. The battery is $50,000. … The batteries will never be affordable.”
A Ford spokesman later clarified Farley was referring to large vehicles such as the company’s Super Duty models or vehicles that require massive battery packs to achieve significant EV ranges of 500 miles. He was not referring to ones such as Ford’s current all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup or next-generation EVs.
Ford earlier this year said it was postponing production of a large three-row SUV at a plant in Canada to 2027 from its initial plan of 2025. It also postponed a next-generation pickup, codenamed “T3,” from late 2025 to 2026.
Farley on Friday reiterated Ford’s next-generation vehicles would be profitable.

He also said Americans need to “get back in love” with small cars instead of larger ones, a surprising statement given a majority or Ford’s profits come from trucks and considering American carmakers have historically had trouble making money on small models.
“We have to start to get back in love with smaller vehicles. It’s super important for our society and for EV adoption,” Farley said Friday. “We are just in love with these monster vehicles, and I love them too, but it’s a major issue with weight.”
Ford’s EV unit lost $1.32 billion during the first quarter of this year on 10,000 vehicles wholesaled. While the unit also includes EV-related business such as software, those losses equate to a loss of $132,000 per vehicle the unit sells.
Farley said it is crucial for Ford to make profitable EVs in the next five years as Chinese automakers continue to expand globally.
“If we cannot make money on EVs, we have competitors who have the largest market in the world, who already dominate globally, already setting up their supply chain around the world,” he said. “And if we don’t make profitable EVs in the next five years, what is the future? We will just shrink into North America.”

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Nike posted dismal fiscal 2025 guidance that sent shock waves through Wall Street, leading at least six investment banks to downgrade the stock.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Stifel called Nike’s management, including CEO John Donahoe, into question and said the athletic company is losing its once ironclad credibility.
Nike founder Phil Knight told CNBC that Donahoe has his “unwavering confidence and full support.”

John Donahoe, attends the first day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images

Nike CEO John Donahoe appears to be on thin ice. 
The former top executive of eBay, who has been at the helm of Nike since January 2020, is starting to lose Wall Street’s confidence after the company capped off a lackluster fiscal year with more bad news. 

On Thursday, Nike warned that sales in its current quarter were expected to decline by a staggering 10% – far worse than the 3.2% drop LSEG had projected – after it posted its slowest annual sales gain in 14 years, excluding the Covid-19 pandemic. 
The company also said it expects fiscal 2025 sales to be down mid-single digits when it previously expected them to grow.
The warning signs led shares to close 20% lower on Friday — making it the worst trading day in the company’s history since its IPO in Dec. 1980. The plunge wiped about $28 billion off of Nike’s market cap, bringing it to just under $114 billion from $142 billion a day earlier.
As Wall Street digested the dismal outlook from the world’s largest sportswear company, at least six investment banks downgraded Nike’s stock. Analysts at Morgan Stanley and Stifel took it a step further, specifically calling the company’s management into question.
“The FY25 guide (the 5th downward consensus revision in 6 quarters), pushes prospects for growth inflection further into 2025 (perhaps FY4Q or spring ’25 at the earliest) asking investors to both underwrite success of not yet proven styles and look across an uncertain consumer discretionary backdrop into 2HCY24 until momentum could build again into 2HCY25,” wrote Stifel analyst Jim Duffy. “Management credibility is severely challenged and potential for C-level regime change adds further uncertainty.”

Stock chart icon

Nike stock has underperformed the S&P 500 during CEO John Donahoe’s tenure.

Since Donahoe took over as Nike’s top executive, its stock is down more than 25% as of Friday’s close, significantly underperforming both the S&P 500 and the XRT – the retail-focused ETF – which saw gains of around 67% and 66% in that time period, respectively.
Nike finance chief Matt Friend on Thursday attributed the guidance cut to a host of factors. Some, like softness in China and challenging foreign exchange headwinds, are outside of Nike’s control, but others are problems it squarely created under Donahoe’s leadership. 
The company is expecting wholesale orders to be slow as it scales new styles, pulls back on classic franchises and works to repair its relationships with key retail partners after spending the last few years cutting them off in favor of a direct-selling strategy. 
At the same time, loyal customers who shop on Nike’s website are no longer springing for new pairs of Air Force 1s, Air Jordan 1s or Dunks, the company’s core franchises. Critics say the sneaker lines have dominated the retailer’s offerings for too long and turned customers away as they sought fresh styles and innovative designs from a slew of upstart competitors. 
That’s left Nike to win back some of its most essential customers – runners. As the retailer focused on its direct-selling strategy at the expense of innovation, scrappy competitors like On Running and Hoka snatched up market share.

More CNBC retail news

“It was almost silly towards the end of the call they talked about running being such a key sport that consumers are taking part in. … We’ve known that for a long time, we’ve known that the consumer changed their mind post-pandemic, how they’re much more active,” Jessica Ramírez, senior research analyst at Jane Hali & Associates, told CNBC, adding a management change at Nike is “quite needed.” 
“Post-lockdown, we saw that the consumer did adopt running and was serious about that and there was an everyday runner, and Nike didn’t really respond to that,” she said. “I think when you have management missing key consumer shifts, there’s a problem with your company … something changed and they’ve missed the mark.”
Kevin McCarthy, a senior research analyst at Neuberger Berman, told CNBC’s Scott Wapner on Thursday that the company needs a change in management and speculated that Donahoe’s employment contract could soon expire. 
“Everything that you’ve suggested is wrong with this company seems to flow back to execution, management and everything else,” McCarthy said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
“They’ve got a couple internal candidates right now that are very capable … you’ve got a couple ex-Nike candidates, too, that have been in the discussion, and then you also have other competitors that have been discussed. But I do think that it’s assumed that the leadership of this company will be changing over the next six months.” 
In fairness to Donahoe, the Covid-19 pandemic started in earnest in the U.S. less than two months into his tenure, and he’s had to grapple with shuttered stores, remote workers and a roller-coaster ride of shifting consumer preferences and abilities. 
While the company’s stock may be down, Nike’s annual sales have grown some 37% under his leadership from $37.4 billion in fiscal 2020 to $51.36 billion in fiscal 2024. 
If you ask Phil Knight, Nike’s founder and its chairman emeritus, Donahoe is doing just fine. 
“I have seen Nike’s plans for the future and wholeheartedly believe in them,” the 86-year-old told CNBC in a statement. “I am optimistic in Nike’s future and John Donahoe has my unwavering confidence and full support.”

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

NASA and Boeing are further extending the first Starliner crewed flight but are not yet setting a new target date for returning the capsule to Earth.
Officials say the Starliner team is conducting additional testing on the ground that will be completed before the spacecraft leaves the International Space Station.
Boeing’s crew flight test represents the first time Starliner is carrying people, flying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is pictured docked to the International Space Station orbiting above Egypt’s Mediterranean coast on June 13, 2024.

NASA and Boeing are further extending the first Starliner crewed flight but are not yet setting a new target date for returning the capsule to Earth, the organizations announced Friday.
Boeing’s Starliner capsule “Calypso” will stay at the International Space Station into next month while the company and NASA conduct new testing back on the ground. Boeing’s crew flight test represents the first time Starliner is carrying people, flying NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Officials say the Starliner team is starting a test campaign of the spacecraft’s thruster technology at White Sands, New Mexico — testing that will be completed before Starliner returns to Earth.
“We think the testing could take a couple of weeks. We’re trying to replicate the inflight conditions as best we can on the ground,” NASA’s Commercial Crew manager Steve Stich said during a press conference.
Before launching on June 5, Boeing and NASA planned for Starliner to be in space for nine days. As of Friday, the Starliner flight has tallied 24 days and counting.
Despite the extended stay at the ISS, officials emphasized that Starliner is safe to return at any point in case of an emergency. NASA and Boeing say the delay for testing is solely to gather more data about the spacecraft’s performance, in particular its thruster system.
“I want to make it very clear that Butch and Suni are not stranded in space,” Stich said.

Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter.

The Starliner crew flight test represents a final major step before NASA certifies Boeing to fly crew on operational, six-month missions. Yet, similar to the previous two spaceflights that were uncrewed, Starliner is running into several problems during the mission.

Testing in New Mexico

Despite NASA and Boeing’s assurances that Calypso is safe to return at any point, Starliner teams want to try to replicate thruster issues that occurred when the spacecraft was approaching the ISS. Officials said the goal of the ground testing is to “make sure that there’s nothing that’s unusual” about the thruster’s performance.
The White Sands ground tests are expected to begin as early as Tuesday.
“This will be the real opportunity to examine the thruster, just like we’ve had in space, with on-the-ground detailed inspection. Once that testing is done, then we’ll look at the plan for landing,” Stich said.
“We’re not going to target a specific date [for return] until we get that testing completed,” he added.
Officials noted their rationale for keeping Starliner at the ISS while the White Sands testing is conducted: Boeing and NASA say their teams can perform thruster tests more frequently on the ground, as well as physically inspect the thrusters after test firings.
While Starliner will now spend far longer than anticipated in orbit, NASA’s Stich noted that the spacecraft is designed for missions as long as 210 days.
Agency and company representatives repeatedly expressed confidence in the Boeing spacecraft’s safety. Officials said delaying the return to Earth is an optional choice to study Starliner more during an experimental mission, rather than a necessary decision to fix a risky problem.
“We’re not stuck on ISS. The crew is not in any danger, and there’s not increased risk when we decide to bring Suni and Butch back to Earth,” Boeing’s Starliner program Vice President Mark Nappi said.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More