NASA's Sunita Williams retires after 27 years: Tracing her career
21 Jan 2026

NASA has announced the retirement of its veteran astronaut Sunita Williams, effective December 27, 2025.

The decision marks the end of a remarkable 27-year career in human spaceflight.

Williams is one of NASA's most experienced astronauts, having flown three missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and spent an incredible 608 days in space—the second-longest cumulative time for a NASA astronaut.

Williams's contributions to space exploration
Achievements

Williams has also made her mark with nine spacewalks, totaling 62 hours and six minutes. This is the most by a woman and the fourth-highest overall.

"Suni Williams has been a trailblazer in human spaceflight," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

He added that her leadership aboard the space station shaped future exploration and laid groundwork for Artemis missions to Moon and Mars journeys.

Williams's spaceflight milestones and leadership roles
Career highlights

Williams is tied for the sixth-longest single spaceflight by an American, having spent 286 days in orbit with astronaut Butch Wilmore on missions involving Boeing's Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9.

Her last mission started in June 2024 when she and Wilmore launched aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for its first crewed test flight.

The mission was supposed to last about a week but got extended to over nine months due to technical issues with the capsule.

Williams's early career and leadership at NASA
Early years

Williams first went to space in 2006 on space shuttle Discovery and later served as flight engineer for Expeditions 14 and 15.

She returned to ISS in 2012, launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, and commanded Expedition 33.

Beyond her spaceflights, Williams held several leadership roles at NASA.

Williams, a former US Navy Captain Sunita Williams, has logged 4,000+ flight hours across 40 aircraft and degrees from the US Naval Academy and Florida Institute of Technology.

Williams's views on space commercialization and debris
Space perspectives

"Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favourite place to be," Williams said. "It's been an incredible honour to serve in the Astronaut Office and fly in space three times."

She is currently touring India and spoke about the commercialization of space as a major driver of innovation.

She also highlighted concerns over space debris management as an emerging critical challenge.