Boeing spacecraft commander abruptly pulls out of test flight mission - CNN

NASA and Boeing made the announcement Wednesday morning, saying Ferguson made the decision for "personal reasons." Ferguson said in a follow-up tweet that he plans to prioritize his family, and he "made several commitments which I simply cannot risk missing."

He did not provide further details.

Ferguson, an engineer and veteran of three Space Shuttle missions, left the NASA astronaut corps in 2011 to help Boeing design and build a next-generation spacecraft that could take over the task of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

In 2018, Boeing announced Ferguson would command the Starliner's first-ever crewed test flight, and he was expected to become the first corporate astronaut — his flight suit bares a Boeing logo where others have the NASA emblem.

The astronauts who traveled on SpaceX's first-ever crewed mission in May, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, were both active members of the NASA astronaut corps, not SpaceX employee.

Ferguson was supposed to be the only Boeing employee onboard the Starliner test flight, and he was to be joined by two NASA astronauts inside the capsule on its maiden flight.

But now the flight will be all NASA astronauts.

NASA's Barry "Butch" Wilmore, who's served two prior stints on the International Space Station, will replace Ferguson as commander of the mission, joining NASA's Mike Fincke and Nicole Mann, who were previously assigned.