The spacecraft, lifting off on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Friday morning, had an off-nominal insertion and went out of its planned orbit due to a timer anomaly.
In a media teleconference, Boeing said the spacecraft will land at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico at 7:57 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (GMT 1257) Sunday, with a backup opportunity at 3:48 p.m. (GMT 2048) if needed.
Starliner should have arrived at the ISS a little more than 24 hours after its liftoff and stay docked with the space lab for a week.
"Heavy use of thrusters early in the mission because of timing error appears to have caused problems with some sensors," said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Boeing's space division.
Starliner has conducted two orbital adjustment burns and several smaller checkout burns of the propulsion systems, according to Boeing.
After separation with the rocket, Starliner burned more fuel than anticipated to maintain precise control because it mistakenly believed an orbital insertion burn was complete, so there was not enough fuel for it to dock with the space station, according to NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.
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