long awaited journey meaning

30 Idioms for Journey

Embarking on life’s journey is akin to navigating a complex maze, full of twists, turns, and unexpected detours. It’s a trip we all take, each with its own set of challenges and adventures.

But what makes the journey truly fascinating are the idioms that have been woven into the fabric of our language, offering unique perspectives on the various facets of life’s expedition.

Idioms for Journey

1. hit the road.

Meaning: To begin a journey or set out on a course of action.

In a Sentence: After months of planning, it was finally time to hit the road and explore the wonders that awaited us.

2. On the Road to Recovery

Meaning: Making progress toward improvement or healing, especially after a setback or illness.

In a Sentence: Despite the challenges, Jane found herself on the road to recovery, gaining strength with each passing day.

3. Take the Scenic Route

Meaning: Choosing a longer but more visually appealing path or approach.

In a Sentence: Instead of rushing to the destination, Sarah decided to take the scenic route, savoring the beauty of the countryside.

4. All Roads Lead to Rome

Meaning: There are different ways to reach the same conclusion or destination.

In a Sentence: In the vast world of opportunities, it’s reassuring to know that all roads lead to Rome, and success can be achieved through various paths.

5. Blaze a Trail

Meaning: To be a pioneer or create a new path for others to follow.

In a Sentence: In the competitive industry, Lisa aimed to blaze a trail with innovative ideas that would redefine the way business was done.

6. The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step

Meaning: Every significant task or accomplishment starts with a small and simple action.

In a Sentence: Starting her own business seemed daunting, but Emily reminded herself that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

7. Path of Least Resistance

Meaning: Choosing the easiest or most trouble-free course of action.

In a Sentence: Rather than confronting the issue head-on, Mark opted for the path of least resistance, hoping to avoid unnecessary conflict.

8. Break New Ground

Meaning: To pioneer or initiate a new venture or approach.

In a Sentence: The tech company sought to break new ground by introducing groundbreaking innovations that would revolutionize the industry.

9. Off the Beaten Path

Meaning: Venturing into unfamiliar or unconventional territory.

In a Sentence: For their anniversary, Alex and Julia decided to explore off the beaten path, discovering hidden gems away from touristy spots.

10. Cross That Bridge When You Come to It

Meaning: Dealing with a problem only when it arises, rather than worrying about it in advance.

In a Sentence: Instead of stressing about potential challenges, Sam preferred to cross that bridge when he came to it, focusing on the present moment.

11. A Long Way to Go

Meaning: There’s still a significant distance or a considerable amount of progress to be made.

In a Sentence: Despite achieving success in his career, John realized he still had a long way to go before reaching his ultimate goals.

12. Back on Track

Meaning: Returning to the right path or regaining focus after a setback.

In a Sentence: After facing numerous challenges, the team rallied and got back on track, determined to achieve their objectives.

13. Travel Down Memory Lane

Meaning: Revisit or reminisce about past experiences, often with a sense of nostalgia.

In a Sentence: As the old friends gathered, they couldn’t help but travel down memory lane, recalling the adventures of their youth.

14. Catch the Next Train

Meaning: Seize the next opportunity or move forward promptly.

In a Sentence: When presented with a chance to study abroad, Maya decided to catch the next train, embracing the adventure that awaited her.

15. On the Right Track

Meaning: Making progress and moving in the right direction.

In a Sentence: Despite initial challenges, the new project was on the right track, with positive developments unfolding.

16. The End of the Road

Meaning: Reaching the final stage or the conclusion of a journey or endeavor.

In a Sentence: As graduation approached, Sarah felt a mix of emotions, realizing it was the end of the road for her college years.

17. Make a Pit Stop

Meaning: Take a short break or pause during a journey.

In a Sentence: During their road trip, the travelers decided to make a pit stop at a charming roadside café to recharge and enjoy the scenery.

18. Journey into the Unknown

Meaning: Embark on an adventure or experience something unfamiliar and unexplored.

In a Sentence: The decision to start a new business felt like a journey into the unknown, filled with uncertainties and excitement.

19. Smooth Sailing

Meaning: Proceeding without difficulties or obstacles.

In a Sentence: After careful planning, the event went off without a hitch, and it was smooth sailing throughout.

20. Go the Extra Mile

Meaning: Put in additional effort or exceed expectations.

In a Sentence: To stand out in her role, Amy was always willing to go the extra mile, ensuring exceptional results.

21. The Final Leg

Meaning: The last part or phase of a journey.

In a Sentence: Completing the thesis marked the final leg of Michael’s academic journey, leading to his graduation.

22. Up the Creek Without a Paddle

Meaning: In a challenging situation with no easy solution.

In a Sentence: Realizing he forgot his presentation notes on the day of the meeting, Bob found himself up the creek without a paddle.

23. Steer Clear

Meaning: Avoiding someone or something, often due to potential trouble.

In a Sentence: Knowing the risks involved, Sarah decided to steer clear of office politics, focusing on her work instead.

24. Journey of Self-Discovery

Meaning: Exploring one’s thoughts, feelings, and identity to gain a deeper understanding of oneself.

In a Sentence: Solo travel became a transformative journey of self-discovery for Julia, revealing new aspects of her personality.

25. Burn Bridges

Meaning: Irreversibly cutting ties with someone or something.

In a Sentence: Deciding to pursue a different career, Alex was careful not to burn bridges with his former colleagues, maintaining professional relationships.

26. Off to a Flying Start

Meaning: Begin something with great enthusiasm and success.

In a Sentence: The new business venture was off to a flying start, exceeding expectations in its initial phase.

27. Head in the Clouds

Meaning: Having unrealistic or impractical thoughts and ideas.

In a Sentence: Despite being grounded in reality, Tom accused his friend of having his head in the clouds, dreaming of unattainable goals.

28. Hike up the Mountain

Meaning: Face and overcome significant challenges or obstacles.

In a Sentence: Launching a startup required the team to hike up the mountain of uncertainties, but the view from the top was worth the climb.

29. Down the Road

Meaning: In the future or later stages of a situation or journey.

In a Sentence: While success might not be immediate, the team remained optimistic about the positive outcomes down the road.

30. Hit a Roadblock

Meaning: Encounter an unexpected obstacle or challenge.

In a Sentence: Just when everything seemed to be going smoothly, the project hit a roadblock, requiring the team to reassess their strategy.

In the vast lexicon of idioms, expressions for the journey serve as signposts, guiding us through the diverse landscapes of life. Whether you’re hitting the road, taking the scenic route, or facing a roadblock, these idioms enrich our communication by capturing the essence of our shared human experience.

Related Posts

30 idioms for kids, 30 idioms for kid.

• Dictionaries home
• American English
• Collocations
• German-English
• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Recent additions
• Resources home
• Text Checker

Definition of long-awaited adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

long-awaited

• her long-awaited new novel

Want to learn more?

Find out which words work together and produce more natural-sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Examples of long-awaited

Word of the Day

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

to move the pedals (= parts you operate with your feet) backwards on a bicycle

Worse than or worst of all? How to use the words ‘worse’ and ‘worst’

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

{{message}}

There was a problem sending your report.

• More from M-W
• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of await

transitive verb

intransitive verb

• watch (for)

Examples of await in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'await.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle English, from Anglo-French aweiter, aguaiter , from a- (from Latin ad- ) + guaiter to watch — more at wait

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 3

Dictionary Entries Near await

Cite this entry.

“Await.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/await. Accessed 7 Jun. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of await, more from merriam-webster on await.

Nglish: Translation of await for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of await for Arabic Speakers

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism', more commonly misspelled words, commonly misspelled words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, popular in wordplay, the words of the week - june 7, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, 9 superb owl words, 10 words for lesser-known games and sports, etymologies for every day of the week, games & quizzes.

• Rules/Help/FAQ Help/FAQ
• Members Current visitors
• Interface Language

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

• English Only

long-awaited trip or much anticipated trip?

• Thread starter MakeEachDayCount
• Start date Jun 11, 2013

MakeEachDayCount

Senior member.

• Jun 11, 2013

I think they are interchangeable. Both mean that you have been looking forward to going on the trip for a long time.  

Thanks for your help Misterk.  

I wouldn't say that "much anticipated" necessarily means someone has " been looking forward to going on the trip for a long time" - it just means that someone is eagerly awaiting the trip. If I told my family today that we're going to Scotland next week, that would certainly be a much anticipated trip!  

Member Emeritus

Can you tell us the source of the sentence? If you wrote it: If it was anticipated or long awaited, why did it come as a surprise ?  

The original sentence was "The good surprise of this school year was the long awaited trip to London" The students had been waiting for two years to go there.  

To me, the trip could be a surprise, even if it was long awaited. They've known for two years that the trip would happen some time, but it came as a surprise when they heard it would be tomorrow/at the weekend/next Tuesday/or whatever.  

• Jun 12, 2013

I see HeyPresto's point (assuming the trip was anticipated at all), but I think you're suggesting that the timing was the surprise. So this would make sense to me: The good surprise was the long hoped-for trip to the UK ... OR: The good surprise was the sudden announcement of ...  

The Longest Voyage: The Dream

1434 - 1517 | discover how the first voyage around the world took place., acción cultural española, ac/e.

Antonio Fernández Torres, Guillermo Morán Dauchez (General Archive of the Indies) and Braulio Vázquez Campos (General Archive of the Indies).

The Dream by Lola Bermúdez (Tannhauser Estudio) Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French writer.

Europa and Asia by Lola Bermúdez (Tannhauser Estudio) Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Some 500 years ago in Seville, Europe's long-awaited dream of reaching the unexplored, mythical lands of the Orient and the Maluku (Moluccas or Spice) Islands became a reality. Ferdinand Magellan set off on his voyage in 1519, and three years later it became the longest voyage of the era: the first circumnavigation of the world was completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano, captain of the Victoria , and his crew in 1522.

To celebrate the 500th anniversary of this amazing feat, Cultural Action Spain (Acción Cultural Española) and the General Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de Indias) have come together to organize the exhibition of The Longest Voyage . This fantastic exhibition showcases testimonies from some of the sailors and navigators who went on this exceptional journey. Their stories speak to the human aspect of the voyage: these men dreamed of sailing an impossible route into the unknown and managed to return home, changing history forever.

Portolan Chart of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Coasts of Europe and Africa (1520) by Giovanni Vespucci Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Setting the Stage: Europe, the Orient, and the Oceans

Europe and Asia | Mid-15th century–Early 16th century

The Longest Journey: The First Circumnavigation of the Globe by Braulio Vázquez Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Europe had always dreamed about Asia. For the old continent of Europe, the Orient was a distant fantasy, an obsession. By the mid-15th century, the spread of the Ottoman empire meant that overland trade routes were cut off, and Renaissance Europe resolved to overcome its fear of the sea. Iberian navigators, who had turned their art into a science, surveyed the oceans and considered the possibility of new trade routes. Until this time, people thought the oceans were an unbreachable abyss. > Take a virtual tour of the exhibition in the General Archive of the Indies.

Portulan Chart of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Coasts of Europe and Africa (1520) by Giovanni Vespucci Original Source: Archivo General de Indias

During the 14th century, Europe was centered around the east of the Mediterranean Sea, where Italian factories in Genoa, Florence, and Venice served as intermediaries that traded luxury goods with the Far East, which specialized in silk and spices. With increasing pressure from the Turks in the 15th century, the trade route moved west towards the Atlantic, and the focus shifted to Portugal and Spain.

This portolan chart was not designed for navigating the Mediterranean Sea, but for voyaging toward the Orient. Its creator, Juan Vespucci, worked as a navigator for the Spanish House of Trade (Casa de la Contratación) in Seville from 1512. He was the only one authorized to make copies of the Padrón Real (the Royal Register), which was the secret master map used on all Spanish ships during the 16th century.

Miller Atlas (1522) by Lopo Homem Original Source: Biblioteca Nacional de Francia

The Exploration Race: In Search of Spices

Iberian Peninsula | 1488–1517

Map of the Voyage of Discovery by Tannhauser Estudio Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

In the late 15th century, Portugal and Spain (then known as Castile) charged into the oceans in an unprecedented exploration race. Both countries had the same goal: find a sea route to reach the Far East and the fabled Moluccas islands, the home of lucrative spices.

Treaty of Tordesillas Treaty of Tordesillas / Page 03 Archivos Estatales

The Treaty of Tordesillas was signed on June 7, 1494 by  the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, and King John II of Portugal. It established a new meridian 370 leagues (1,277 miles) west of the Cape Verde islands. Each party promised not to undertake explorations in the other's side: the west of the meridian was Spain's, while the east belonged to Portugal. An unforeseen consequence of the Treaty was the question of who owned the Maluku Islands, as the Tordesillas meridian naturally formed an anti-meridian which divided the waters and land in the East.

Planisphere (ca. 1519) by Jorge Reinel Original Source: Biblioteca Nacional de Francia

The Project: Dream Meets Possibility

Seville - Valladolid | October 20, 1517–March 22, 1518

Magellan Engraving (19th century) by Fernando Selma Original Source: Archivo General de Indias

By 1517, the Portuguese had been present in India for nine years and trading with the Moluccas islands for five. Meanwhile, Castile was held up in the Americas, still searching for a passage to the East and the Mar del Sur. The Mar del Sur (South Sea), later known as the Pacific Ocean, was discovered by the Spanish explorer Balboa. That year, a young king who dreamed of becoming emperor arrived in Castile and assumed the joint throne of Castile and Aragon. He was Charles I of Spain, later known as Emperor Charles V. A few days after his ascension to the throne, the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan crossed the border into Castile and offered the king the key to reaching the Spice Islands by heading west. As soon as the two met, their dreams came to fruition.

The Capitulations of Valladolid

The king, who “loved the maritime letters and poems” that Magellan showed him, soon took up the gauntlet to discover the Maluku Islands. He granted Magellan the title of governor and gave him advance ownership of any lands he discovered. He also named him Captain-General of the first Armada and granted him other trading favors and privileges. Magellan was also promoted to the rank of Commander of the Order of Santiago and became a citizen of the Kingdom of Castile.

Settlement of King Charles I with Ferdinand Magellan and Rui Faleiro Settlement of King Charles I with Ferdinand Magellan and Rui Faleiro / Page 04 Archivos Estatales

According to this charter issued by Royal Decree in Valladolid on March 22, 1518, and signed on the same day by Joanna I and Charles V, Ferdinand Magellan and a learned man named Rui Faleiro were both named Captain-General of the Spice Island Fleet (Armada de la Especiería).

What drives us to explore?

The scientists and explorers Pedro Duque, Tomás Mazón, Tomás Echegoyen, Kitín Múñoz, Íñigo Múñoz, Matthias Mauer, and Ignacio Orcada, among others, speak about their experiences as they embarked on a voyage into the unknown.

General History of the Indies (16th century) by Bartolomé de las Casas Original Source: Archivo General de Indias

History of the Indies

The chronicles of a New World discovered at the end of the 15th century saw the dawn of a new period in which all sorts of testimonies were recorded by various authors. They wanted to record first-hand accounts of everything people saw and experienced in lands that were as yet unknown to all Europeans. These chronicles were indispensable to historians who analyzed the magnitude and impact of this historic event from every angle. One of the greatest works is History of the Indies (Historia General de las Indias) by Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566).

Las Casas described and fiercely denounced the conditions that native Indians were subjected to, as well as the behavior of the conquistadors following their arrival in Española Island, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. As for any references to the first circumnavigation of the world, Brother Bartolomé's account tells us a lot about Magellan's arrival to the Spanish Court and the negotiations that took place to organize the Armada for the Spice Islands.

Justified Account by Cristóbal de Haro Justified Account by Cristóbal de Haro / Page 01 Archivos Estatales

This document is a record of an inventory that was managed by Christopher de Haro up until 1526 for the Armadas of Magellan, Caboto and de Loaísa. Though there is an abundance of these kinds of accounting summaries in the General Archive of the Indies (Archivo General de Indias), this one is of particular interest as it provides information about the destination of the cloves that were brought back from the Maluku Islands by Captain Elcano, aboard the Victoria .

Justified Account by Cristóbal de Haro Justified Account by Cristóbal de Haro / Page 10 Archivos Estatales

A sponsor in the shadows?

Some authors argue strongly that Cristóbal de Haro played a pivotal role in the original design and plan for Magellan's Armada and that he may even have been working in the shadows as the main architect and sponsor of the project.

The Longest Voyage. Sea Acción Cultural Española, AC/E

Continue to the next stage of the adventure. The Longest Voyage: Setting Sail .

Adaptation of the exhibition " The Longest Journey: The First Around the World ". Organizers:   Spanish Cultural Action , Ministry of Culture. General Archive of the Indies Curated by:  Antonio Fernández Torres, Guillermo Morán Dauchez, Braulio Vázquez Campos Program:  Raquel Mesa Images: Archivo General de Indias, Tannhauser Estudio > See the digital catalog > Download the digital catalog > See brochure This exhibition is part of the First Voyage Around the World project.

Cervantes, times of childhood and youth

Archivos estatales, the longest journey: setting sail, cervantes: a life in the golden age, the longest journey: the exploration, cervantes, the brilliant author, the longest voyage: the destination, la casa lonja de mercaderes in seville, the longest voyage: the return, paper restoration processes, the longest voyage: transformation, the road to a new era.

Examples of 'long-awaited' in a sentence

Examples from the collins corpus.

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Score: 0 / 5

All ENGLISH words that begin with 'L'

Register to get your text revised right away for FREE ⚡

Today more than 1001 people got their English checked.

By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Terms of Service .

Get a FREE revision 🎁

Register a new account, welcome back, confirm your email.

Please click the link that we've sent to this address to post your question to our experts. Ok, I'll check my email

not your email? Change it now

Set a new email

Here you can set your new address email. Remember to use a valid email address. We will send you an email to confirm your account.

Facebook Login Discontinued

Unfortunately, the Facebook login method has been discontinued.

To access your TextRanch account, please click the "Reset Password" button below and input your Facebook Email. Our team will send you an email with further instructions.

If you don't remember your email, please fill out this form .

Your text is being reviewed by one of our Experts. We will notify you when your revision is ready.

Or wait in this page

Leave this page open, and your corrected text will appear as soon as it's ready!

You need to add a payment method to get our special promo ⚡

Enter your email below to get instant access to the first Chapter of our Ebook

Downloaded more than 1320 times today.

Add payment method

NOTE: Credits are valid for one year.

We're so happy that you liked your revision! Your feedback helps us improve our service. Want more FREE revisions ? 🎁

Step 1 out of 2!

Like us on Facebook by clicking the like button below:

Almost there!

Last step (2/2)

Share TextRanch on Facebook by clicking on the button below.

Congrats! You've just earned 3 credits!

Closing your account will prevent you from accessing your past revisions, and you will no longer be eligible for a FREE daily revision.

There is no cost to keep your TextRanch account, and we store all of your past revisions in a secure and private manner.

Help us understand

If we didn't meet your expectations, we'd really like to know more. Please tell us why you are closing your account:

Which one is correct? "a long awaited'" or "a long waited"?

A long awaited'.

'A long awaited' is the correct phrase to use in English.

Alternatives:

• a long awaited movie release
• a long awaited vacation
• a long awaited promotion

a long waited

'A long waited' is not a correct or commonly used phrase in English.

• a long awaited event
• a long awaited reunion
• a long awaited opportunity

Last Updated: March 17, 2024

TextRanch: The best way to perfect your writing.

Discover why 1,062,726 users count on TextRanch to get their English corrected!

One of our experts will correct your English.

100% Human-Powered Editing!

Related Comparisons

Thanks to TextRanch, I was able to score above 950 on TOEIC, and I got a good grade on ACTFL OPIC as well. + Read the full interview

I love TextRanch because of the reliable feedback. The editors' comments are helpful and the customer service is amazing. + Read the full interview

TextRanch has helped me to improve my written skills as well as to communicate more naturally, like a local English speaker. + Read the full interview

TextRanch is amazingly responsive and really cares about the client. It's the best online service that I have ever used! + Read the full interview

I started to use TextRanch when I began to learn English. It has been an awesome way to improve my English skills. + Read the full interview

I love that TextRanch editors are real people who revise the text and provide feedback – it makes it so personal. + Read the full interview

I sometimes wonder if my English expressions make sense clearly and TextRanch helps me a lot in such cases. + Read the full interview

TextRanch has been really helpful in improving the flow and repairing the structure of my sentences. + Read the full interview

“Faster than AI"

“This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."

“It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"

“7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"

“In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."

“Without textranch I would be stuck!"

“Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."

“I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"

“The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."

“you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"

“OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."

“Very fast and accurate. thank you."

“I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"

“This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"

“The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."

“this helps A LOT for my studies."

“Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"

“Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."

“The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."

“The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"

“Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"

“This is the best app that I have ever seen"

“Quick response and got what I intend to say. Grammar correction is excellent because the meaning is retained."

“Excellent, I truly loved this textRanch for quick revision. This textRanch for quick revision is a 10/10 for me."

⚡️Ask our Editor now.

Fresh content for your texts, so you can be more professional.

estimated time: 30 minutes , directly in your inbox

📝 ️Notes for your editor

Let our editor help you, include background information, explanations of unusual words and special terms, or instructions about specific improvements you want.

Want to improve your English business writing?

More than 150,000 people like you receive our weekly newsletter to master their English skills!

Why choose TextRanch?

Lowest prices Up to 50% lower than other online editing sites.

Fastest Times Our team of editors is working for you 24/7.

Qualified Editors Native English experts for UK or US English.

Top Customer Service We are here to help. Satisfaction guaranteed!

bottom_desktop desktop:[300x250]

• Share this —

• Watch Full Episodes
• Read With Jenna
• Inspirational
• Relationships
• TODAY Table
• Newsletters
• Start TODAY
• Shop TODAY Awards
• Citi Concert Series
• Listen All Day

Follow today

More Brands

• On The Show
• TODAY Plaza

Gracie Abrams finally released ‘Close to You,’ a song her fans have waited 7 years for

Gracie Abrams is giving her fans what they want! On June 7, the singer-songwriter released her song “Close to You,” a track that she’s been teasing for nearly seven years.

Back in 2018, Abrams released on her Instagram a 20-second clip of the song, which was just a demo at the time. “Hair looking real great. here’s more stuff i have made,” she captioned the video. Her listeners were hooked ever since, begging for a full studio version of the bop.

Turns out, she’d been listening to those calls and shared on June 4 that she’d be releasing “Close to You” at long last.

The day the song dropped, the 24-year-old wrote on her Instagram story: “Hiiiii Close To Youuuuuu hi after seven years hellooooooo :).”

In the catchy upbeat song, Abrams sings about the complicated feelings of wanting to be close to someone who hardly notices her.

She sings, “I burn for you/ And you don’t even know my name/ If you asked me to/ I’d give up everything/ To be close to you.”

Online, fans praised Abrams for releasing the tune. On YouTube , one person said, “Real ones have known this gem for years.”

Another wrote, “EVERYBODY SAY THANK YOU GRACIE !!!! <333.”

A third added, “Waited 6 YEARS FOR THIS AND IT WAS WORTH IT.”

Abrams — who’s performing on the TODAY plaza this month a s part of the Citi Concert Series — is releasing a new album, “The Secret of Us,” on June 21. She wrote on Instagram that “Close to You” was not intended to be on the record, but she included it due to her fans’ demand.

“It’s from a different time entirely,” she wrote, “we had finished the whole record top to bottom, but i heard you loud and clear.”

Read all the lyrics to “Close to You” here:

I don't got a single problem with provocative See the bodies, how they burn, it's just the way it is Smoky, dark, crowded room I need nothing under pink light in June I was so cool, but then, all of a sudden You saw me look at you I burn for you, and you don't even know my name If you asked me to, I'd give up everything To be close to you Pull the trigger on the gun I gave you when we met I want to be close to you Break my heart and start a fire You've got me overnight Just let me be close to you Close to you Close to you Just let me be Oh, close to you Close to you Close to you And now your mouth is moving Cinematic timing You pull me in and touch my neck, and now I'm dying You should be mine for life I'll be signing every dotted line Chemical override, ultraviolet You could be mine tonight, and I Burn for you, and you don't even know my name If you asked me to, I'd give up everything To be close to you Pull the trigger on the gun I gave you when we met I want to be close to you Break my heart and start a fire You've got me overnight Just let me be close to you Close to you Close to you Just let me be Oh, close to you Close to you Close to you I burn for you Mmm To be close to you Pull the trigger on the gun I gave you when we met I want to be close to you Break my heart and start a fire You've got me overnight Just let me be close to you Close to you Close to you Can't you just let me be Oh, close to you? Close to you Close to you Just let me be Oh, close to you Close to you Close to you Just let me be Oh, close to you Close to you Close to you

Joyann Jeffrey is a trending news reporter based in New York City

Jon Bon Jovi pokes fun at Kelly Clarkson for singing wrong ‘Blaze of Glory’ lyrics during ‘Kellyoke’

Sabrina Carpenter and Barry Keoghan star in ‘Please Please Please.' All about the song’s lyrics

Adam Levine is returning to 'The Voice' as a coach, joined by newcomer Kelsea Ballerini

StubHub reveals the top in-demand global artists of summer 2024: EXCLUSIVE

Who will replace Katy Perry on ‘American Idol’? Here are some of the possible candidates

Producer-singer The-Dream accused of rape and sexual battery in lawsuit filed by former protégée

Miley Cyrus shares a fax message she got from godmother Dolly Parton that left her ‘choked up’

Miley Cyrus opens up about texting with Beyoncé and the ‘safety’ between them

Pop culture.

Cyndi Lauper announces first major tour in over a decade. What to know

Every surprise song Taylor Swift has performed on the ‘Eras Tour’ so far

long-awaited

• 1.1.1 Translations
• 1.2 References

long - awaited ( comparative more long-awaited , superlative most long-awaited )

• 2019 November 6, Robert Drysdale, “Wires offer boost to Borders revival”, in Rail , page 42 : The recent announcement of £395 million of Scottish and UK Government funding for the 'Borderlands' growth deal [...] has brought with it a pledge of £10 million to fund the long-awaited feasibility study into extending the Borders Railway through to Carlisle .

Translations

• “ long-awaited ”, in Lexico , Dictionary.com ; Oxford University Press , 2019–2022 .

• English lemmas
• English adjectives
• English multiword terms
• English terms with quotations
• Terms with Mandarin translations
• Terms with Dutch translations
• Terms with Finnish translations
• Terms with French translations
• Terms with German translations
• Terms with Hungarian translations
• Terms with Italian translations
• Terms with Macedonian translations
• Terms with Polish translations
• Terms with Russian translations
• Terms with Spanish translations
• Terms with Ukrainian translations
• Terms with Welsh translations

Navigation menu

101 Names That Mean Long Awaited

• Share to Facebook

TRENDING: Get Everything You Need for a Perfect Beach Trip HERE!

Names are important. 

They are the first words our parents speak to us and often represent our identity for the rest of our lives. 

Some names, though, have a special meaning that goes beyond their everyday connotations. 

Names that mean long awaited are the perfect pick for couples who have waited a long time to become parents. 

Like our names that mean God’s will , these ones communicate to your child that you have eagerly anticipated their arrival. 

They also serve as a beautiful reminder of the special moment when you first learned you were going to be a mom or dad. 

If you’re expecting a child and haven’t chosen a name yet, consider one of these names for your long-awaited little one. 

Each of them has a special meaning that will resonate with you.

Girl Names That Mean Long Awaited

1 – abhilashita.

Abhilashita is a Hindu baby girl name that means “longed for, desired, and wanted.”

2 – Adora

Adora is a lovely Latin girl’s name that means “adored,” “beloved one,” or “gift.”

3 – Amadora

Amadora is an Italian name that means “gift of love.”

4 – Anina

Anina is an Aramaic girl’s name that means “grace; let my prayer be answered.”

5 – Asha

Asha is such a beautiful female name with Hindu roots. It means “hope or wish.” It can also mean “life” in Swahili.

6 – Eashita

Eashita is a pretty girl name that means “wanted” in Hindi.

7 – Eliana

Eliana is a pretty Hebrew name that means “God has answered me.”

It lends itself to many potential nicknames and alternative spellings like Elia, Eleana, Liana, and Lia.

8 – Kayin

Kayin is an African name that means “long-awaited daughter.”

Variations of the name include Kayen, Kayan, and Kayon. It can also be unisex.

9 – Lindiwe

Lindiwe means “the daughter we have waited for.” It has African roots.

10 – Oneida

Oneida is a beautiful female name that translates as “our long-awaited daughter.”

It’s Native American in origin, and other variants are Oneida, Oneyda, Onida, and Onelea.

11 – Gaida

Gaida is of Latvia and Estonia Cultures. It means “to wait for” or “expectations.”

12 – Marlise

Marlise is an elegant girl’s name. In Hebrew, it means “wished for child.”

13 – Mirium

Mirium is a popular girl name of Hindu origin. It means “wished for child.” Mimi will make a pretty nickname.

14 – Mary

Mary is a basic name with numerous origins and meanings. One of its several meanings is “wished for child.”

15 – Aibhlinn

Aibhlinn is an Irish baby girl name. Aibhlinn means “longed for” and “wished for child.” It is the Irish variant of the name Evelyn.

16 – Bijîn

Bijîn is a Kurdish name from the Middle East. It translates as “long for and desire.”

17 – Chido

Chido is a Shona name from Zimbabwe. It means “wish, desire, and love.”

18 – Desiree

Desiree is a gorgeous French name that translates as “much desired” or “wanted.” It was made popular by the movie Désirée in 1954.

19 – Heela

Heela is a pretty girl’s name native to the Pashto of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It means “to hope for and to wish for.”

20 – Kika

This unique Japanese name means “prayer or hope.”

21 – Janae

This cute modern American name is more often seen used among African-Americans. It means “God has answered” or “God is gracious.” It’s the perfect name for your baby girl that you’ve waited for.

22 – Pratthana

Pratthana is a Thai name meaning “desired, long for.”

23 – Sami

Sami is a cute and short Japanese girl name. It has many meanings, including “hope for, wish for, and desired.”

24 – Theadora

Theadora is a cute girl’s name with Greek roots. It means “gift of God.” Thea will make a lovely nickname for this gorgeous girl name.

25 – Theodosia

Looking for an uncommon alternative to the popular Theodora? Theodosia is the name for you! It means “god’s gift.”

Tessa, Tess, Thea, Tia, Teddy, Dia, and Sia are great potential nicknames.

26 – Wilona

Wilona is a pretty Irish name with Old English roots. It means “longed for” or “hoped for.”

Boy Names That Mean Long Awaited

1 – abhimanyu.

Abhimanyu is a strong male name that is popular in India. It means “to long for,” “to desire,” and “to wish” in Hindu.

2 – Abhilash

Abhilash means “desire, wished” in the Hindu language.

3 – Arman

Arman is a handsome Persian boy’s name that means “wish” or “hope.”

4 – Bane

Bane is a Hawaiian boy name. It means “long-awaited child; eagerly awaited for or yearned after.”

Unless people are aware of its Hawaiian roots, this name conjures up the term bane and all of its negative implications in English. 

5 – Biton

Biton is a Mozambique boy’s name that means “born after a long wait.”

6 – Chociebor

Chociebor is a Polish name. It means “to wish for, to want, or to desire.”

7 – Daunoras

Daunoras is a Lithuanian boy’s name. It signifies “to want, to wish, to desire.”

8 – Didier

Didier is a male French name that means “longed for child.”

Didier Drogba, the former Ivorian Chelsea football player, is a famous name bearer.

9 – Dilmurād

A name from the southern Asian countries of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. This name means “heart’s wish.”

10 – Exaucé

Exaucé is a rare and exotic masculine French Name. Its meaning is “to fulfill/grant the wish of a prayer.”

11 – Kam

This short boy’s name means “desire or wish” in Persian.

12 – Ian

Ian is the Scottish variant of the name John. It means “God is gracious.”

13 – Murad

Murad is an Arabic male name that means “wish” or “desire.”

14 – Sifiso

Sifiso means “wish” in Zulu.

15 – Sugaal

Sugaal is a cool-sounding male name that simply means “wait.” Sugaal has Somali heritage.

16 – Zelimir

Zelimir is a Croatian name that means “to wish, to desire.”

Unisex Names That Mean Long Awaited

1 – amadore.

This stunning name is used mainly for girls but also boys. In Italian, it means “gift of love.”

2 – Baram

This rare Korean name means “expectation,” “desire,” and “hope.”

3 – Bennett

Bennett is an Old English name derived from a surname. It means “blessed or little blessed one.”

4 – Betabasi

Betabasi is an Ibibio name from Nigeria that means “wait for God.”

5 – Chamnong

Chamnong has Thai origins. It means “wish or desire.”

6 – Desire

Desire is an androgynous English name that’s gotten from Old French. It translates to “to long for; to wish for; to desire.”

7 – Initizar

Initizar has Arabic and Turkish roots. This gender-neutral name means “wait,” “expectation,” and “anticipation.”

8 – Evelyn

Evelyn is a lovely name derived from an English surname. Evelyn means “wished for child.” 

Surprisingly, it’s a unisex name that’s mostly used by girls nowadays. Some cute nicknames are Evie. Evy, Lynn.

9 – Fursat

Fursat is a Turkish baby name that means “perfect time or right time.”

10 – Hui-won

Hui-won is a Korean name meaning “to wish for, to desire, and to hope.”

11 – Kibō

This rare Japanese name means “wish, hope, aspiration.”

12 – Noras

Noras is a cool Lithuanian male name that simply means “wish or desire.”

13 – Raja

Raja is a unisex baby name that means “hope, expectation, optimism” in Arabic.

14 – Rindzela

Rindzela is an exotic-sounding name. It means “wait for” in Tsonga, a Southern African language.

15 – Tiaitau

Tiaitau is a Tahitan unisex name. It means “long wait.”

16 – Toive

Toive is a cute Finnish androgynous name that means “wish or desire.”

17 – Tumaini

Tumaini is a beautiful Swahili name that connotes “wish and hope.”

18 – Wish

Wish is an apt name of English origin. It means “a desire, hope, or longing for something or for something to happen.”

Baby Names Perfect For A Long Awaited Child

We’ve curated a list of names that not only sound beautiful but also symbolize hope, strength, and the joy of anticipation, perfect for your long-awaited little bundle of joy.

1 – Amadeus 

Amadeus is a masculine Latin name that means “love of God.” 

2 – Amara

This is an Igbo girl’s name that means “grace.” 

3 – Amaris 

Amaris is a beautiful, unique name that’s sure to stand out.

Amaris has roots in both Hebrew and Latin, offering a rich cultural tapestry. In Hebrew, Amaris means “promised by God,” — a poignant and fitting tribute for your long-awaited child, indeed.

But the beauty of Amaris doesn’t stop there. In Latin, this name takes on the meaning “you are loved.” Can you imagine a more heartwarming sentiment for your little one?

With its warm meanings in both languages, Amaris could be the perfect name for your little miracle.

It’s a gentle reminder that they are not only a gift from above, but also a cherished individual, long-awaited and loved deeply.

4 – Andrew 

This is a handsome boy’s name that comes from Greek origin and means “strong” and “courageous.” 

5 – Ariella 

This beautiful Hebrew girl’s name means “God is my oath.”

6 – Asier 

Asier is a striking name that originates from the Basque region, nestled between Spain and France.

Asier translates to “the beginning.” It’s often given to boys in the Basque region but it’s quite unique elsewhere,

The name carries with it a deep sense of anticipation and joy, which is why it’s an excellent choice for your long-awaited child.

7 – Audrey 

Audrey is a feminine name that originates from the English language. It means “noble strength.” 

8 – Ava 

Ava is a timeless and lovely name that has been adored for generations.

In the Biblical context, Ava is a variation of Eve, which means “life” or “living one”, symbolizing the creation of life and thus, the culmination of your long wait.

9 – Bennett 

Bennett is a boyish name that means “blessed.” It has roots in the Latin language. 

10 – Dorian

If you have read Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey , you will be familiar with this handsome name. Dorian is a Greek name that means “gift.”

11 – Dorothy 

Dorothy is a feminine Greek name that means “God’s gift.” 

12 – Elizabeth 

Elizabeth is a common girl’s name that originates from Hebrew culture. It means “God’s promise.” 

13 – Ethan 

Ethan is a lovely choice for a long-awaited child.

Originating from Hebrew, Ethan is a name that carries a deep and profound meaning.

Ethan means ‘strong’, ‘safe’, ‘firm’, and ‘enduring’. This makes it an especially appropriate choice for your precious bundle of joy, symbolizing the resilience and patience you’ve shown throughout your journey.

Ethan is also a biblical name; in the Old Testament, Ethan the Ezrahite is portrayed as a wise man, renowned for his wisdom.

This gives the name an added depth, signifying not only strength and endurance but also wisdom and knowledge.

14 – Evangeline 

This beautiful girl’s name comes from Greek and displays the sentiment of “good news.” This name can be shortened to several cute nicknames like Eva, Evie, or Evan. 

15 – Everett 

This classic boy’s name comes from the Old English language, and it means “strong boar.” 

16 – Ezekiel 

For a handsome Hebrew name, Ezekiel means “God is my strength.” 

17 – Gia 

Gia is a feminine Italian name that is short and sweet. It means “God is gracious.” 

18 – Hannah

Hannah is a Hebrew name for girls that means “favor of God.”  

19 – Iphigenia 

Iphigenia is a very unique name that has roots in Greek. It means “born to strength.”

This is the name of the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology. 

20 – Janet 

Janet is a feminine English name that means “God is gracious.” 

21 – Jesse 

This name is suitable for a child of any gender. Jesse has origins in the Hebrew language and means “God’s gift,” which symbolizes how much your child is a gift in your life. 

22 – Jonathan 

Jonathan is a Hebrew boy’s name that means “God has given.” 

23 – Lucien 

If you’re looking for a regal-sounding French name for your son, Lucien means “light.” 

24 – Magnus 

Magnus is a Latin name for boys that means “greatest.” 

25 – Mara 

Mara is a special Hebrew girl’s name that means “bitter.” The meaning of this name also implies “strength” if you look at it through a biblical lens. 

26 – Matilda 

Matilda is a feminine English name that means “might” and “strength.” 

27 – Matthias 

This strong masculine Hebrew name means “gift of God.” 

28 – Maude 

Maude is a fierce feminine French name that means “mighty in battle.” 

29 – Mildred 

Mildred is an old-fashioned name that comes from the Old English language. It means “gentle strength,” which is something that you should encourage in your daughter.  

30 – Nadia 

Nadia is a feminine Russian name that means hope . 

31 – Nathaniel 

This Hebrew name for boys means “God has given.” 

32 – Neo 

Neo is a short masculine name that comes from Greek origin and means “new.” It is also the name of Keanu Reeves’s character in the Matrix movies. 

33 – Renee 

Renee is a feminine French name that means “born again.” 

34 – Roxana 

This is a pretty Persian name for girls that means “dawn.” 

35 – Samuel 

Samuel is a classic masculine Hebrew name that means “God has heard.” 

36 – Shiloh 

This is a gender-neutral name that comes from Hebrew. It means “His gift.” 

37 – Theodore

Theodore is a Greek name for boys that means “gift of God.” A nickname for this name is Theo or Teddy.   

38 – Valentine 

This gender-neutral name comes from Latin origin and means “strong and healthy.” 

39 – Willa

Willa is a sweet feminine Old German name that means “resolute protection.”  

40 – Wyatt 

This strong name originates from the English language. It means “war strength” and “brave warrior.”

If you’re on the hunt for a name that symbolizes strength, bravery, and perseverance, all while carrying an air of charm, Wyatt could be the perfect choice for your long-awaited little fighter.

41 – Zoran 

Zoran is a masculine Slavic name meaning “dawn” or “daybreak.”

Final Thoughts on Long-Awaited Names

If you are still looking for the perfect name for your child, consider one of these names that mean long awaited . 

These names represent hope and wish fulfillment, and they will remind your child of how much they were hoped for and longed for.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• listening party
• existing artist
• See all results

No matching results

Try a different filter or a new search keyword.

Search all Bandcamp artists, tracks, and albums

• artists PRO view site
• edit profile
• subscription subscription
• view collection
• showLinkedBands(!showLinkedBands())" data-test="linked-accounts-header">

Long Awaited Journey

By alon mor.

Limited Edition CD Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

Buy Compact Disc   $15 USD or more  

Send as gift  , digital album streaming + download, buy digital album   $10 usd  or more, full digital discography.

Get all 6 Alon Mor releases available on Bandcamp and save 25% .

Buy Digital Discography   $34.50 USD or more ( 25% OFF )

Share / embed.

• patreon.com
• alonmormusic.com
• open.spotify.com
• itunes.apple.com

discography

contact / help

Contact Alon Mor

Streaming and Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Alon Mor, you may also like:

Polychrome by KOAN Sound

supported by 52 fans who also own “Long Awaited Journey”

Noisia style neurofunk meets glitch hop, IDM, jazz, world, ambient, elevator music, and who knows what else. This amalgam of genres has no right to work, but KOAN Sound somehow pulled it off, creating perhaps one of the most innovative albums ever. Every song is fantastic, either being a banger, atmospheric, emotive, or all three at once. furrybeans

Deliverance by Culprate

supported by 46 fans who also own “Long Awaited Journey”

This album shows that Culprate has evolved in his sounds. With more musicians needed in the making of this album. Hats off to everybody who's involved! doojoux

Jettison Mind Hatch by Tipper

supported by 40 fans who also own “Long Awaited Journey”

omg, this is awesome! i have been a huge tipper fan a long time, albums like broken soul jamboree & forward escape are rare electronic masterpieces. i have listen to this more than 100 times and i can detect always more layers...so ful of details in the background...a class of it's own, music and production are not from this world! dub orange

BELIEVE by Men Seni Suyemin

Shoegaze and dreampop intermingle with ambient on the gorgeous new record from Men Seni Suyemin. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 7, 2024

Overlapping Shadows by Olson

UK "ambient king" and LOFS affiliate layers pleasurable textures over sturdy rhythms that nod to techno, jungle, and footwork. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 6, 2024

Cellophane Memories by Chrystabell & David Lynch

FBI Director Gordon Cole and Special Agent Tammy Preston reveal another side of their personalities, teaming up for this gorgeous new LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 5, 2024

Intervals Above by KOAN Sound

supported by 36 fans who also own “Long Awaited Journey”

An underrated work of art. I don't know why this isn't more popular. Dwintz

Bandcamp Daily    your guide to the world of Bandcamp

Eight Artists Pushing the Ambient Edges of Techno

Chilean Folklore Gets the Andean Electronic Treatment on “El Origen”

The Experimental Electronic Netherworld of Basic House

On Bandcamp Radio

Intranced frontman James-Paul Luna talks about the LA band's debut LP.

• terms of use
• switch to mobile view

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Entertainment

Bonnie McKee Talks Writing Hits for Katy Perry, Music Industry Hardships and Her Long-Awaited New Album (Exclusive)

The hit singer-songwriter tells PEOPLE about the journey from making her 'Hot City' album over 10 years ago to finally now sharing it with the world

Courtesy of Bonnie McKee

• More than a decade after Bonnie McKee made her second album, Hot City , the project was released on Friday
• The album was originally meant to come out after she scored No. 1 hits for Katy Perry, Britney Spears and others as a songwriter
• She was inspired to finally put out the album independently after seeing fans continue discussing its songs online for years

The road to Bonnie McKee 's Hot City wasn't without its bumps.

Upon setting out to create the pop album over 10 years ago, the 40-year-old singer-songwriter was at the top of her game, crafting the lyrics of No. 1 hits for Katy Perry  and  Britney Spears while seeking out a spotlight of her own. She signed a record deal, released her debut single "American Girl" in 2013, garnered buzz and built a fanbase ready for more, but her full-length album was ultimately shelved — until now.

At the time, McKee was devastated. But she didn't give up. After years of fans asking for Hot City , in quite an unconventional pop star move, the dancefloor-ready album finally dropped on May 31.

"Like it or not, a big part of my brand, my relationship with my fans and my spiritual journey has been perseverance," she tells PEOPLE. "You fall down, you get back up, and that's kind of been it from day one for me."

McKee knew music was her calling at a young age. Growing up in Seattle, she'd record demos and give them to a family friend working in the music industry, who encouraged her to write lyrics.

As a teenager, she sent an original song to a friend of a friend and ended up getting played on the Southern California radio station KCRW, which led to her first label deal with Reprise Records. There, she released her debut album, Trouble , in 2004.

However, the pop-rock effort didn't connect with audiences, and McKee soon felt pushed to the sidelines by Reprise. "So, in a fit of frustration, I'll say, I went down to Hollywood Boulevard, bought a dagger at a smoke shop, burned a CD of my best new songs, went down to the CEO's house in the middle of the night and stabbed the CD into a tree right outside his front door," she recalls. "Needless to say, I got dropped, which is what I wanted."

In order to make ends meet while looking for her next move, McKee started singing demos and writing songs for other artists. One day, she met Perry in line while selling clothes at the L.A. thrift store Wasteland.

"She was a fan of my first album, and we were fast friends," says McKee, who was then asked by Perry to cowrite songs for her second album, Teenage Dream. Three of their collaborations ("California Gurls," "Teenage Dream" and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)") went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by three more from subsequent projects.

Taylor Kahan

Around the same time, McKee scored chart-toppers with Spears' "Hold It Against Me" and Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," among many other hits. "I suddenly went from being completely broke, not having a car, my cell phone turned off, not having hot water and digging for Taco Bell money to house-hunting in Hollywood Hills," she says. "It was really surreal."

With massive success under her belt as a writer, McKee was ready to be an artist again and soon landed a deal with Epic Records. She then started making Hot City , released "American Girl" and prepared the next single, "Slay" — but Epic wasn't a fan of the song. "And when the label and I didn't see eye-to-eye on that, I was just like, 'I can't do this again. I don't want to do this again,'" she explains.

So, McKee parted ways with record company and decided to go independent. She kept writing for others and released an EP, Bombastic , in 2016, earning success by landing its songs in several TV shows, films and commercials. "I was like, 'Wow, I really can be indie and make a living,'" she says.

After making another full-length album, McKee was getting ready to share it with fans as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, and the timing no longer felt right. As she sat home throughout the year, she found a online forum with a 500-page thread about Hot City. Having listened to leaked demos and live performances of its songs around 2013, fans still wanted to hear the full project.

McKee looked at her old contract and realized she could legally re-record the songs, so she contacted the other writers and producers and told them she wanted to finally release the album. "Of course, everybody thinks I'm nuts because it's old," she says. "But I'm like, 'I'm telling you, these songs stood the test of time in the same way that the songs that I wrote with Katy and Britney have proven to be evergreen songs that are still relevant.'"

She revisited each track, gave some "a little facelift" and eventually even got permission from Epic Records to include "American Girl" on the project. The result is a version of Hot City that's both fresh and nostalgic for the time period in which McKee made its songs.

Neilson Barnard/Getty

"I was at the height of my songwriting success, and I was also at the tail end of my kind of party girl phase, because I'm 12 years sober now," reflects McKee, who always looked to Hot City as a metaphor for paradise.

"My idea of paradise at the time was being No. 1, being super successful, getting to have the spotlight for once," she says. "My idea of success has really changed since then. I've realized that it really is about the journey and not the destination, because I've reached the destination before. I've reached the top heights, and that doesn't really solve anything."

Never miss a story — sign up for  PEOPLE's free daily newsletter  to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Now that Hot City is out in the world, McKee wants to see the project reach the potential she's always envisioned. She'll take the album on the road to a few LGBTQ+ pride festivals this summer before touring more widely in the future and hopes to see the world connect with her work.

"I would love to be able to throw my hat in the ring to win a Grammy because, honestly, I do feel like this album is a pop masterpiece," she says. "But being an indie artist, it's unlikely, probably. But I'm really proud of the work that I've done, and I just want people to hear it."

The best part of releasing Hot City for McKee? "I fought for it, and so it means even more to me now than it would have back then," she declares. "I just can't believe I made it here."

Related Articles

• Entertainment

The Best TV Shows of 2024 So Far

I n its first five months, 2024 has been what a sports commentator might euphemistically describe as a rebuilding year for TV. The actors’ and writers’ strikes that brought Hollywood to a standstill last summer and fall have, of course, left gaping holes in the calendar. But the more permanent problem is a chaotic contraction in the streaming economy that has left executives scrambling to cut costs (perhaps by canceling your favorite show ) and grow revenue (which is why you can now watch Sex and the City on Netflix as well as Max), as the future of second- and third-tier players like Paramount Global and AMC Networks remains precarious at best.

On the business side, a sort of Ship of Theseus-style recreation of linear TV’s broadcast model and cable bundles seems to be in progress—which might not be the worst thing for consumers. The question is: Will this budget-friendly shift mean a dearth of great shows? Well, they’ve certainly been fewer and farther between this year, as so many of the debut series currently filling in for delayed seasons of returning favorites have disappointed. Yet, as always, shining exceptions abound: a stellar adaptation of an instant-classic contemporary novel, a masterpiece historical epic set in 17th century Japan, long-awaited new seasons of two standout streaming comedies, a buzzy Netflix crime thriller that actually lives up to the hype. We might be waiting quite a while for the industry to stabilize, but at least we’ll have plenty to watch in the meantime.

Here are the year's best offerings to date.

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

I watch a lot of TV, but I’ve never seen another show quite like Baby Reindeer . For this dark, British crime dramedy, creator and star Richard Gadd—like Michaela Coel and Phoebe Waller-Bridge before him—adapted his own one-man Edinburgh Fringe Festival show into a strange, bleakly funny, searchingly insightful series based on his experiences as a survivor of rape and stalking . An initial encounter between Gadd’s Donny, a bartender who moonlights as a mediocre standup comic, and Martha (Jessica Gunning), the lonely woman who will become his stalker, sets off a crisis of psychosexual self-reflection that forces Donny—who is by no means an uncomplicated victim—to confront the horrors he’s spent years trying to repress. As gadflies like Piers Morgan make a point of missing this Netflix breakout’s humanist point, pitching sideshow tents around the real people whose alleged crimes it fictionalizes , Gadd's surprise smash continues to fuel crucial conversations about men as victims of sexual violence. 

The Big Cigar (Apple TV+)

Hollywood loves a revolutionary. The Big Cigar is both a depiction of that fraught affinity and a cannily self-aware product of it. Chronicling the fugitive Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton’s (André Holland) escape from the U.S. in 1974 , with the help of Easy Rider producer Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola), the series is, at once, a stylish action thriller, a dark odd-couple comedy, a nuanced portrait of a misunderstood radical, and a journey into the soul of a movement fracturing after years of internal power struggles and government persecution.

Boarders (Tubi)

Just when you think TV has exhausted every possible premise for teen dramas set inside the gilded cage of privileged adolescence, a show comes along and makes that familiar backdrop feel new. This British import , streaming in the U.S. as a Tubi original, follows five Black scholarship students whose admission to a posh, extremely white boarding school is a ploy to counteract a noxious new story about its bratty students. The performances, by a fresh-faced young cast, are wonderful. And creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor balances timeless coming-of-age storylines with sharp observations about the intersection of class, race, and academic excellence, yielding a secondary-school saga that feels substantive but is also lots of fun to watch.  

Expats (Amazon)

The Farewell filmmaker Lulu Wang makes a stunning transition to the small screen with this perceptive and poignant adaptation of Janice Y.K. Lee’s novel The Expatriates . While Nicole Kidman is the marquee star, leading a strong ensemble cast as a wealthy American mother in Hong Kong who is unraveling a year after her little boy’s disappearance, the standout performance comes from Ji-young Yoo as a floundering young woman whose aimlessness puts her on a collision course with Kidman’s character. Gorgeously shot and provocatively engaged with the politics of its setting , Expats weaves a story of Westerners abroad that never loses sight of the people, policies, and economic realities that make their relatively charmed lives possible.  

Hacks (Max)

What if you finally got the career you’d always dreamed of, at an age when most people are transitioning into retirement? This is the dilemma that haunts Jean Smart ’s comedy doyenne Deborah Vance in the perennially wonderful Hacks ’ series-best third season . No longer just an insanely wealthy Vegas stalwart, QVC staple, and camp icon, Deborah—after a crucial push from a comedy writer several decades her junior, Hannah Einbinder’s Ava—is suddenly stand-up’s hottest ticket. But her triumph is diluted by a lifetime’s worth of regrets. Meanwhile, Ava seems to be flourishing, with a starlet girlfriend and a job on a late-night show, but secretly yearns to collaborate with Deborah again. Funny, prickly, and sneakily tender, their reunion fuels a season that makes the most of Smart and Einbinder’s perfectly calibrated chemistry, 

Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show (HBO)

When a celebrity turns to reality TV, it’s usually either an exercise in self-promotion or an act of desperation. The comedian Jerrod Carmichael had a very different reason for allowing cameras to follow him around at the height of his fame: he wanted to capture the truth of who he is, no matter how unflattering. The experiment is a resounding success—which is to say that Reality Show paints a vividly complicated self-portrait. From fraught relationships with his parents (Carmichael’s devout Christian mother struggles to accept her gay son, while his dad remains tight-lipped about his decades of infidelity) to his seemingly compulsive cheating on a boyfriend, the series dives deep into its subject’s psychology. At a moment when so much comedy leans on self-righteous preaching or performative offensiveness, Carmichael’s candor is refreshing. 

Shōgun (FX)

Now that executives are growing stingy with their original-content dollars, Shōgun (a project that predates the industry’s current crisis) is a dazzling reminder that big bets really can pay off. TV’s second adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 tome , which traces the uneasy alliance between an English mariner (Cosmo Jarvis) and the embattled Japanese lord (Hiroyuki Sanada) whose nation he stumbles into, combines stunning visuals and remarkable acting, elaborate set pieces and profound explorations of such timeless themes as honor, faith, loyalty, and culture clash. Elevated by Anna Sawai’s haunting performance as the brilliant, tragic heroine Toda Mariko, this epic isn’t just the best thing on the small screen in 2024; it’s also, according to FX, the network’s most-watched show ever. In fact, FX recently announced that it’s working with Clavell’s estate to extend what was supposed to be a miniseries for an additional two seasons. Whether creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo can avoid the pitfalls of other adaptations that strayed from their source material ( Game of Thrones , Big Little Lies , The Handmaid’s Tale ) remains to be seen. But for now, it’s worth celebrating the near-perfect season of TV they’ve already given us.

The Sympathizer (HBO)

A spate of literary adaptations has transformed TV into a sort of audiovisual bookshelf, with results that are, more often than not, uninspired. But HBO’s The Sympathizer does right by Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer-winning novel , set in the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam War, as our protagonist (Hoa Xuande), a communist double agent of biracial heritage, reluctantly follows the South Vietnamese general he’s been surveilling to exile in the U.S. Director and executive producer Park Chan-wook brilliantly translates the book’s violence, suspense, and satire to the screen, adding many inspired surreal touches, without drowning out its subtler ideas about identity, political commitment, and the pointlessness of war. The series’ greatest act of poetic license is to cast Robert Downey Jr. in multiple roles as various faces of American imperialism.

The Traitors (Peacock)

Peacock’s mega-popular reality competition, which sequesters some 20 cast members in a Scottish castle for an elaborate game of Mafia, got off to a relatively slow start in a second season populated entirely by celebrity contestants . Reputations preceded many reality veterans, leading to a few early eliminations that threatened to stymie the intrigue. But then Phaedra “I Do Too Much Because You Do Little” Parks stepped up her Traitor swagger, Season 1 fan favorite Kate Chastain made a delightful mid-season return, Big Brother legend Dan Gheesling spectacularly self-destructed as a Traitor, and a clique of Faithfuls that Phaedra dubbed “the Peter pals” fomented a whole lot of in-group/out-group drama. Even those of us who weren’t thrilled with the winners had to admit that The Traitors is just about as good as reality TV gets.   

We Are Lady Parts (Peacock)

The debut season of Nida Manzoor ’s lovable and ferocious comedy series about an all-Muslim, all-female punk band in London felt like a Peak TV miracle. Three years later, the streaming gold rush has ended, but We Are Lady Parts is back with another six episodes of electric indie-music mayhem. Season 2 sees the band wrestle with the trappings of micro-fame: Gen Z upstarts are stealing their schtick, industry insiders are circling, there’s a constant hum of social media commentary in the background, and the pressure to earn money just keeps mounting. Manzoor strikes an ideal balance between humor, conflict, and sisterhood; group storylines and each distinctive character’s individual struggles. The show’s music is as great as ever, too, with original tracks supplemented by covers ranging from Nina Simone to Britney Spears .

More Must-Reads from TIME

• How Joe Biden Leads
• TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2024
• Javier Milei’s Radical Plan to Transform Argentina
• How Private Donors Shape Birth-Control Choices
• What Sealed Trump’s Fate : Column
• Are Walking Pads Worth It?
• 15 LGBTQ+ Books to Read for Pride
• Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time

Contact us at [email protected]

Starliner Sets Off on 1st Flight With NASA Astronauts Aboard

After two previous launch attempts were called off, the Boeing-built spacecraft was headed to the International Space Station. It will stay there until at least June 14.

• Share full article
• Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA via Reuters
• The Starliner crew prepares for takeoff. NASA, via Reuters
• The Starliner launching. Chris O'Meara/Associated Press
• Rocket boosters expend and drop off. NASA, via Reuters
• 15,000 miles per hour. NASA, via Reuters
• The Starliner crew before takeoff. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Kenneth Chang

Here’s what to know about Starliner’s flight.

After two trips to the launchpad that did not end up going to space , two NASA astronauts finally headed to orbit on Wednesday in a vehicle built by Boeing, the aerospace giant . The 15-foot-wide capsule, Starliner, provides NASA with an additional option for flying crews to and from the International Space Station, more than a decade after the space shuttles were retired. The launch is the latest step in NASA’s efforts to rely more heavily on the private sector for its human spaceflight program.

Starliner’s first trip with astronauts on board comes four years and six days after SpaceX, the other company that NASA has hired to provide astronaut rides, launched its first mission with astronauts aboard . A series of costly delays repeatedly kept astronauts from flying on the Boeing vehicle, while SpaceX, once seen as an upstart, has since flown 13 crews to orbit.

Here’s what you need to know about the flight:

At 10:52 a.m. Eastern time, the engines of an Atlas V rocket ignited, lifting the Starliner spacecraft on an arcing path to space . Wednesday’s countdown at a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., was flawless, proceeding without a hitch.

The only issue that has popped up since launching is with a “sublimator” that provides cooling in Starliner during the ascent to orbit. The device used more water than expected. Officials said it will not affect the current mission. After reaching orbit, Starliner switched to a different cooling system, a radiator, as planned.

The two crew members on board Starliner are Butch Wilmore, the commander, and Suni Williams, the pilot. They are experienced NASA astronauts; Mr. Wilmore has spent 167 days in space, and Ms. Williams 322. They will spend about a day in orbit before docking with the space station on Thursday at 12:15 p.m. They will stay until at least June 14 , maybe longer, depending on weather at the landing sites and testing of the spacecraft.

Starliner is years behind schedule, as the work by Boeing and NASA to confirm that the spacecraft was safe to fly stretched far longer than expected. Technical pitfalls included inadequate software testing, corroded propellant valves, flammable tape, a key component in the parachute system that turned out to be weaker than designed, and, most recently, a helium leak in the spacecraft’s propulsion system. Boeing fixed and studied the problems, allowing Starliner to get back to the launchpad.

The delays have left Boeing facing more than $1.4 billion in unexpected charges . The launch attempt comes during a tough 2024 for the aerospace giant . Just days into the year, a panel on the body of a Boeing 737 Max 9 blew off during an Alaska Airlines flight . The pilots safely landed the plane, and there were no major injuries, but the episode has had widespread repercussions for the company, particularly its aviation division.

A ‘milestone’ flight carried two NASA astronauts in Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.

After two trips to the launchpad that did not end up going to space, two NASA astronauts finally headed to orbit on Wednesday in a vehicle built by Boeing, the aerospace giant.

The first trip of Starliner, a 15-foot-wide capsule, with astronauts on board comes four years and six days after SpaceX, the other company that NASA has hired to provide astronaut rides, launched its first mission with astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing is now set to also provide that service, but a series of costly delays repeatedly kept astronauts from flying the company’s vehicle earlier. SpaceX, once seen as an upstart, has flown 13 crews to orbit in total.

The long awaited flight of the Boeing vehicle is the latest step in NASA’s efforts to rely more heavily on the private sector for its human spaceflight program.

“This is another milestone in this extraordinary history of NASA,” Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator said during a news conference after the launch.

When Starliner arrives at the space station on Thursday, it will join a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule already docked there. NASA officials have steadfastly said that they want to have two different American spacecraft capable of taking astronauts to orbit.

“We always like to have a backup,” Mr. Nelson said. “That makes it safer for our astronauts.”

If the vehicle’s mission goes well, it will also provide some good news for Boeing, whose aviation safety record is under heavy scrutiny after a side panel of an Alaska Airlines jet blew out during a flight earlier this year.

The space division of Boeing has also been under pressure, with work on Starliner stretching years longer than either the company or NASA had expected. Technical pitfalls included inadequate software testing, corroded propellant valves, flammable tape and a key component in the parachute system that turned out to be weaker than expected.

A few minutes before launch, Butch Wilmore, the mission commander, said: “Let’s put some fire in this rocket. Let’s push it to the heavens.”

Suni Williams, the other member of the crew who serves as pilot, added, “Let’s go, Calypso, take us to space and back,” referring to the name she had given the capsule, after the ship used by the oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.

“Suni and I are honored to share this dream of spaceflight with each and every one of you. So with that, let’s get going, and let’s put some fire in this rocket and let’s push it to the heavens, while these tough Americans have prepared it to be.” “Let’s go, Calypso. Take us to space and back.”

At 10:52 a.m. Eastern time, the engines of an Atlas V rocket ignited, lifting the Starliner spacecraft on an arcing path to space. The launch and early parts of today’s flight in orbit provided a welcome relief, unfolding smoothly.

“Houston, Starliner. “Roger.”

“I’m smiling, believe me,” said Mark Nappi, the Boeing official in charge of Starliner. “But it’s a little bit of controlled emotion, because there’s a lot of phases to this mission. And we just completed the first one.”

“You got a good throttle up.” “Good throttle.” “Good SRB burnout.” “Good SRB.”

A minor glitch involved a system that provides cooling during the ride to orbit. The cooling system, known as a sublimator, used a bit more water than expected. Once in orbit, the spacecraft switched to a different cooling system, a radiator, and while engineers will investigate what happened, it will not affect the mission.

Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams are scheduled to dock with the station at 12:15 p.m. on Thursday.

Along the way, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams will take time to test out manually flying the spacecraft, something that is usually not necessary except in emergencies. The life support systems will also be fully checked.

The astronauts will then spend at least eight days at the space station before returning to Earth. The mission has 87 test objectives altogether. “There’s a lot of, I’ll call them ergonomic types of flight test objectives,” Mr. Nappi said. “How do the seats fit? How do the suits work? How do the displays look?”

After the mission, NASA and Boeing will review data from the flight to complete certification of Starliner. The spacecraft would then be ready to begin once-a-year operational flights to ferry NASA crews for six-month stays at the space station. Each Starliner capsule — Boeing has two for orbital missions — is designed for 10 missions.

The path to Wednesday’s flight was years in the making.

In 2014, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX , the rocket company run by Elon Musk, to build replacements for the space shuttles that had taken astronauts to and from the space station before being retired in 2011. NASA had started paying Russia to fly its astronauts to orbit on Soyuz rockets.

Congress was skeptical, repeatedly cutting money that NASA had sought for the commercial crew program. At the time, SpaceX was ascendant, but was not the dominant force it has become today in the rocket launch industry. The selection of Boeing helped reassure lawmakers that NASA was making a sound investment.

NASA originally said Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon could be ready by 2017.

Both companies took longer than planned, a not uncommon occurrence in the aerospace industry.

But in December 2019, Boeing appeared to be in the homestretch. Then a test of Starliner with no astronauts on board went awry because of software problems, and a planned docking was called off. NASA labeled the flight a “high-visibility close call,” because the software flaws could have led to the destruction of the spacecraft if they had not been fixed before re-entry.

Boeing and NASA decided to repeat the uncrewed test, but that test was delayed by corroded propellant valves and Starliner did not launch again until May 2022.

More issues then emerged. Protective tape that was wrapped around wiring insulation turned out to be flammable, and a key but weak component in the parachute system could have broken if Starliner’s three parachutes did not deploy properly.

Those delays cost Boeing $1.4 billion, and while Starliner remained on the ground, SpaceX launched nine crewed missions for NASA (one, Crew-8, is currently docked at the station) and four additional commercial missions with non-NASA passengers aboard.

This year’s round of launch attempts started on May 6. That flight was scuttled by a misbehaving valve on the Atlas V rocket. A small helium leak was then discovered in the Starliner’s propulsion system, leading to several weeks of investigation.

A second launch attempt on Saturday ticked down to 3 minutes and 50 seconds before liftoff, until the computers that autonomously handle the final parts of the launch sequence encountered a problem and halted the countdown.

Over the next few days, technicians replaced a faulty power component, setting the stage for the successful launch on Wednesday.

Niraj Chokshi contributed reporting.

Advertisement

The post-launch news conference is over. For the next day, you won’t see any live video of Starliner. Although there are cameras aboard, there is no communications system for sending it back to Earth in real time. Instead, it will have to be downloaded after Starliner docks at the International Space Station. NASA TV coverage of the spacecraft’s arrival will start at 11:15 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday. Docking is scheduled for 12:15 p.m.

Starliner will remain at the International Space Station until at least June 14. It might stay longer depending on weather at the landing site and how testing of the spacecraft goes.

“So far, the vehicle is doing great,” said Steve Stich, the program manager at NASA for the commercial crew program.

The only issue that has popped up so far during the spaceflight is with the “sublimator,” which provided cooling in Starliner during its ascent to orbit. It used more water than expected. That’s something to investigate, but it’s not a big problem that affects the current mission. Once in orbit, Starliner switched to a different cooling system, a radiator, as planned.

A NASA post-launch news conference is beginning. “This is another milestone in this extraordinary history of NASA,” Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, says.

Starliner is currently at a slightly lower altitude than the International Space Station, which means it is moving faster than the space station and catching up. As it gets closer, it will raise its orbit to match speed.

Elon Musk, chief executive of SpaceX, took some potshots at Boeing and Starliner last month. Today, he was more complimentary .

Congratulations on a successful launch! https://t.co/DiwBo6LheW — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 5, 2024

Michael Roston

Musk also has another major spaceflight on his mind. Early on Thursday morning, his company SpaceX will conduct the fourth test flight of Starship, its large, next-generation reusable spacecraft that NASA is relying on to get to the moon. You can look back at the third flight here .

NASA has concluded its official live coverage of the Starliner launch. But if you can’t get enough, NASA will be providing ongoing video coverage of Wilmore and Williams’ flight to the International Space Station, which will take about 24 hours. Docking is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. on Thursday.

This mission is essentially a shakedown flight to verify that the spacecraft is ready for humans. Some systems, notably life support and manual flying, cannot be tested until astronauts are aboard. NASA will use data from this flight to complete certification. If all goes well, that will be finished later this year, and the first operational flight will be in Feburary.

The burn has completed. Flight controllers at launch control are clapping and shaking hands. Starliner is now on its way to the International Space Station. It is scheduled to dock there tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. Eastern time.

Starliner’s orbital insertion burn has started.

Suni Williams is the first woman to take part in the test flight of an American spacecraft taking astronauts to space for the first time. The first four such test flights — Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the space shuttles — preceded any American women going to space. The fifth, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in 2020, carried Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Starliner is the sixth such spacecraft.

How NASA ended up paying for private rides to orbit.

NASA owned the space shuttles.

The shuttles were built by Rockwell International, but NASA’s engineers largely dictated the design, and once the shuttles were delivered, they became the property of the U.S. government — launched and operated by NASA.

That was NASA’s old way of doing business.

Nowadays, the space agency’s human spaceflight program is trying to do more by doing less on its own.

The Boeing Starliner is the latest step in that direction. NASA does not own Starliner but is, in essence, renting the spacecraft from Boeing for about a week so that two NASA astronauts can get to the space station.

The rationale is that private companies can come up with innovative solutions that are better and cheaper, and the companies can then sell those same products to customers other than NASA — a win-win.

That formula has certainly proved to work with SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk. When SpaceX first won a NASA contract, it had not yet successfully sent anything to space. NASA was key in the development of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, which not only now launches cargo and astronauts for NASA but also has captured a domineering slice of the commercial satellite-launching business.

In 2014, NASA selected SpaceX and Boeing to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX flew its first crewed mission in 2020 and has now launched people to orbit 13 times, including four commercial missions for non-NASA customers.

For Boeing, however, Starliner has turned out to be a long-delayed, costly endeavor, even though NASA is paying more to Boeing than to SpaceX. Back in 2010, Boeing announced that it planned to fly space tourists to the space station. Now, Boeing says it is focused on NASA’s business — six operational flights after the test mission.

“The private astronaut missions are of an interest later in the decade,” said Mark Nappi, program manager of the Starliner program at Boeing.

Despite the mixed results for the companies, NASA has expanded its commercial approach. SpaceX and Blue Origin , the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, have contracts to build landers to carry NASA astronauts to the surface of the moon in the coming years.

NASA is also looking farther out into the solar system. Last month, the space agency commissioned nine companies to study how they might provide services for future science missions to Mars.

During the launch, the astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, used paper checklists, which are simpler and easier to read than digital versions. Now that they’re in orbit, they’ve switched to tablets.

Some of the astronauts’ luggage is not going to make it to the space station.

On Friday, NASA announced some shuffling of the cargo that Starliner is taking to the space station.

The astronauts on board, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will give up some personal items during their short stay in orbit to make room for a spare part for a water recycling system on the International Space Station.

The space station receives regular deliveries of supplies and equipment. Much of it arrives packed into cargo vehicles launched from the United States and Russia. That includes a Russian Progress spacecraft that docked Saturday morning with about three tons of food, fuel and other supplies.

Other times, items are packed along with astronaut crews headed to space.

On Wednesday last week, a pump failed in the system on the space station that collects and processes the astronauts’ urine, the first step in turning it back into drinkable water. That pump had been expected to last until the fall, and a replacement was set to be delivered by a cargo spacecraft in August.

“It failed a little bit early, which put us in a position where we’d have to store an awful lot of urine,” Dana Weigel, NASA’s program manager for the space station, said during a news conference on Friday. “Obviously, adding two more crew members to that further constrains the storage capability we have on board.”

The pump equipment, which weighs about 150 pounds, was flown to the Kennedy Space Center and loaded onto Starliner. Two suitcases of clothing and toiletries for Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams were removed to make room for it.

“The key for the flight was not to perturb the mass properties,” Ms. Weigel said.

The astronauts will use supplies and clothing already at the space station during their scheduled stay of about a week.

Starliner has successfully separated from the Atlas V second stage. In about 16 minutes, Starliner will fire its thrusters to put itself in a stable orbit around Earth.

The second stage engines have shut down, right on time. Three minutes of coasting before Starliner separates from the rocket.

It is now 96 miles above Earth, moving at more than 15,000 miles per hour.

To reach orbit — that is, to go fast enough in order to not fall back down to Earth — Starliner will need to reach about 17,500 miles per hour. Everything continues to go well.

The spacecraft is now traveling 12,600 miles per hour.

The first stage of the Atlas V rocket has done its job, shutting down and dropping off, and the two engines of the second stage have ignited.

The solid rocket boosters have expended and dropped off. Everything continues to look good.

One minute until liftoff.

Here’s the revised flight plan for the Starliner’s journey.

If all goes well, an Atlas V rocket carrying Starliner will lift off on Wednesday at 10:52 a.m. Eastern time from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It must launch at the exact moment — what is known as an instantaneous launch window — that would allow it to catch up with the International Space Station.

Starliner will detach from the second stage of the rocket 15 minutes after launch. Sixteen minutes later, Starliner will fire its thrusters to enter a stable orbit around Earth.

Starliner will take more than a day to meet up with the space station. During that time, two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, will perform tests, including manually flying the spacecraft.

On Thursday, the spacecraft will slowly approach the station, with docking scheduled for 12:15 p.m. Eastern time.

Starliner, along with Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams, will stay at the space station for about a week, allowing for more tests of the spacecraft and its systems.

“We’re pretty much on a timeline, making sure we’re going to get everything done,” Ms. Williams said during a Q. and A. session before the postponed launch attempt on May 6.

Does NASA need another ride to the space station? Elon Musk says no.

As SpaceX noted on X last Thursday, May 30 was the fourth anniversary of its equivalent of this week’s Starliner mission — the first launch of the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with two NASA astronauts aboard.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of Falcon 9 launching @NASA ’s Demo-2 mission to the @space_station , returning human spaceflight to the United States pic.twitter.com/jzwyCwam3l — SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 30, 2024

The space agency boisterously celebrated the achievement, which ended NASA’s nearly decade-long dependence on Russian Soyuz rockets for getting its astronauts to orbit.

That has rendered the upcoming debut of Starliner almost an afterthought, with Boeing seemingly light-years behind SpaceX.

Since the first test flight in 2020, SpaceX has flown eight operational missions for NASA, each taking four astronauts to the International Space Station for six-month stays. The SpaceX missions have unfolded smoothly and reliably at a cost much lower than what Boeing will charge.

So why does NASA continue to spend time, effort and money on Starliner? Why not cancel that contract and rely solely on SpaceX?

Indeed, before Starliner’s scrubbed launch attempt on May 6, Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, posted on his social media site, X, “The world doesn’t need another capsule.”

In a separate posting, Mr. Musk sharply criticized Boeing. “Although Boeing got $4.2 billion to develop an astronaut capsule and SpaceX only got $2.6 billion, SpaceX finished 4 years sooner,” he wrote. “Too many non-technical managers at Boeing.”

A Boeing spokeswoman declined to comment.

But while Mr. Musk might think Starliner is superfluous, NASA officials have often said it is important to have contingency options if something goes wrong.

“This will give us that additional capability because we always look for a backup,” Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said during a news conference on Friday.

Dana Weigel, program manager of the space station for NASA, gave the example of when a Soyuz docked at the space station suffered a coolant leak in 2022 .

Had the Soyuz been the only means of transportation, that could have led to a situation where the lives of the astronauts were genuinely at risk. But a SpaceX Crew Dragon was also docked there, providing a backup.

“If we had to bring the whole crew home on a SpaceX Dragon, we could have done that,” Ms. Weigel said.

For NASA, the more options it has, the better. If Crew Dragon or Starliner suffered a failure and were grounded, the other would still be available. That lessens the possibility that the United States might again have to rely on Russians and the whims of President Vladimir V. Putin for launching people to space.

“The more dissimilar capabilities you have, the more robust you are for dealing with issues,” Ms. Weigel said.

SpaceX has also launched four private astronaut missions using the same Crew Dragons. The first one, Inspiration4, was financed by Jared Isaacman, a billionaire entrepreneur. While that flight went only to orbit and not to the I.S.S., Axiom Space of Houston has since flown three private astronaut missions to the space station, with a fourth that might launch as soon as August.

Mr. Isaacman is also planning to return to space later this year with another Crew Dragon mission, called Polaris Dawn, which is aiming to perform the first spacewalk during a commercial spaceflight.

Niraj Chokshi

Reporting on Boeing and other companies in the aviation industry.

Starliner has cost Boeing $1.4 billion more than it planned to spend.

Wednesday’s Starliner launch has been almost a decade in the making, but it has not been an easy ride for Boeing. In 2014, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX, which received far less funding, carried astronauts into orbit for the first time in 2020. Boeing hopes to achieve that milestone on Thursday.

Along the way, the aerospace giant has faced many setbacks, including years of delays and more than $1.4 billion in unexpected charges. In securities filings, Boeing has blamed engineering issues and supply chain problems; higher-than-expected costs for development, certification and testing; and even a problem identified in testing by a parachute supplier.

“Building rockets and spacecraft is no trivial task,” said Ron Epstein, a financial analyst at Bank of America. “It’s just taken Boeing longer and cost them more to do than they thought.”

The setbacks underscore a broader frustration for Boeing’s defense and space business: fixed-price contracts, under which contractors bear responsibility for higher-than-expected costs. Under a cost-plus contract, on the other hand, the government is responsible for covering unexpected expenses.

Fixed-price contracts are financially risky for companies if costs rise or delays materialize — and Boeing has struggled under them in recent years. Such contracts accounted for about 58 percent of the revenues coming into its defense and space unit last year, and the company has said that it is working to limit its reliance on them. (SpaceX, by contrast, has thrived on fixed-price contracts.)

“We have a couple of fixed-price development programs we have to just finish and never do them again,” Dave Calhoun, Boeing’s chief executive, said at an investor conference last summer. “It doesn’t work for us, and it doesn’t work for our customers, in my not-so-humble opinion.”

Although the company has faced delays, a Boeing representative said in a statement in May that the company remained “committed to providing NASA with a crew access capability to low Earth orbit” and that it “will continue to fulfill our contractual obligations.”

Boeing’s Starliner capsule has had a long, difficult road to human spaceflight.

In late 2019, Boeing appeared to have a good chance at beating SpaceX to become the first private U.S. company to take astronauts to orbit.

But in the four and a half years since, a lot has gone wrong. Here’s a timeline of the setbacks that have caused Boeing to fall so far behind SpaceX in providing American astronauts a ride to low Earth orbit.

December 2019: A ‘high-visibility close call’

On Dec. 20, 2019, Boeing looked to be in the homestretch.

A Starliner capsule — the same spacecraft that is to take the NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the space station on Saturday — was on the launchpad atop an Atlas V rocket.

The test flight to the space station had no astronauts on board, and its mission was to assess the spacecraft’s navigation, propulsion and docking systems. If the flight were to pass this last technical hurdle, a trip with astronauts aboard could take place within months.

The Atlas V rocket launched flawlessly, releasing Starliner.

And then the mission immediately went awry .

The spacecraft’s clock was set to the wrong time, making Starliner think it was in the wrong location. The capsule fired its thrusters to try to get to where it thought it should be. At the same time, a communications glitch thwarted efforts by flight controllers at mission control to diagnose and fix the problem.

Starliner used up too much propellant, and the planned docking at the space station was called off.

During the troubleshooting process, Boeing engineers discovered another software error that would have fired the wrong thrusters during a maneuver leading up to re-entry. NASA labeled the incident a “high-visibility close call” that could have destroyed the spacecraft if the errors had not been patched from the ground during the flight.

An investigation revealed multiple failures in Boeing’s processes that should have caught the mistakes before the launch. An exhaustive audit reviewed one million lines of software code.

NASA officials admitted that maybe they had placed too much trust in Boeing, which had decades of experience working with NASA.

Summer 2021: Corrosion on the launchpad

NASA and the company decided that a second uncrewed test was needed before a flight could be made with astronauts aboard. The spacecraft was rolled onto the launchpad in July, but a problem aboard the space station prompted a delay to early August. Then, ahead of an Aug. 4 launch attempt, mission managers discovered corroded propellant valves on Starliner that would not open. The test flight was called off, and another lengthy round of troubleshooting followed.

May 2022: Another launch, more problems

The second uncrewed test finally launched on May 19, 2022.

During a maneuver to put Starliner in a stable orbit, two thrusters failed, but the spacecraft was able to compensate. It proceeded to dock at the space station and returned to Earth successfully.

July 2023: Parachutes and tape

Before the test flight with astronauts aboard, then scheduled for July 2023, two more issues emerged. Protective tape that was wrapped around wiring insulation turned out to be flammable, and a key component in the parachute system was weaker than designed, meaning it could break if Starliner’s three parachutes did not deploy properly.

About a mile of the tape was replaced, and the parachute design was upgraded, strengthened and retested.

May 2024: Still not ready to fly

“We’ve been taking our time to go through everything methodically, because it is a test flight and we want it to go well,” Steve Stich, the program manager for NASA’s commercial crew program, said during a news conference on May 3.

Mark Nappi, the program manager at Boeing for Starliner, said: “We are ready to perform the test flight. And I’ve never felt readier on any mission that I’ve ever participated in.”

But Starliner was still not quite ready.

The countdown on May 6 was proceeding smoothly until a balky valve on the second stage of the Atlas V rocket — unrelated to Starliner — started acting up, vibrating audibly about 40 times per second.

The launch was called off, and the rocket needed to be taken off the launchpad for the valve to be replaced. That work was completed within a few days.

But a thornier issue emerged.

As the propellants were drained from the tanks of the Atlas V rocket, engineers discovered a small helium leak in Starliner’s propulsion system.

Helium, an inert gas, is used to push propellants to the thrusters. If too much is lost, the thrusters may not work properly.

The leak was traced to a seal on a helium line leading to one of 28 small thrusters known as reaction control system engines.

“Much like you would have on any piece of your plumbing at home, a faucet or anything like that,” Mr. Stich said during a telephone news conference on May 24. “There’s a seal that keeps that interface tight.”

Tests showed no leaks in the seals leading to the other 27 reaction control system engines, and engineers were confident that the single leak was manageable. There are no plans to replace the seal, which would require pulling Starliner off the Atlas V rocket and would lead to an even lengthier delay for the flight.

“We could handle this particular leak if that leak rate were to grow even up to 100 times,” Mr. Stich said.

The helium leak led NASA and Boeing to take a wider look at Starliner’s propulsion system, which revealed a “design vulnerability,” Mr. Stich said. If a series of unlikely failures occurred, the spacecraft might not be able to bring the astronauts safely back to Earth.

If there were problems with the larger engines intended to be fired for a maneuver to drop the spacecraft out of orbit, one of the backup plans was to use eight of the smaller thrusters. However, the analysis showed that an additional failure might mean there would be only four available.

The engineers then developed another backup plan to bring Starliner out of orbit with only the four thrusters. NASA and Boeing officials said that, after weeks of studying the problem, they were confident they could manage problems that might arise from the leak.

On Saturday, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams were ready to fly. Starliner was ready too, but the computers controlling the final minutes of the countdown encountered a problem, and the launch was called off again.

Everyone is back for another attempt on Wednesday.

Space is a small but important part of Boeing’s business.

Boeing is best known for its airplanes, but it has a long history of space-related work. That includes substantial contributions to the first crewed mission to the moon and to the International Space Station.

Today, the company is helping to build an essential component of NASA’s Space Launch System, or S.L.S., a rocket designed to carry spacecraft, cargo and astronauts to the moon. In 2022, the agency successfully launched Artemis I, a test flight with no astronauts aboard, which included a mammoth booster stage built by Boeing. The booster helped the rocket to reach orbit. The company is working on similar sections for future missions involving S.L.S., too. The next, Artemis II, could send four astronauts around the moon in 2025.

In addition to that work, Boeing and Lockheed Martin have a joint venture known as United Launch Alliance, or U.L.A., which was founded in 2006 and employs about 2,700 people. That company’s rockets have sent more than 100 satellites into space, and its Atlas V vehicle is lifting the Starliner into orbit on Wednesday.

Boeing also makes satellites of all sizes for government and commercial operators, as well as missile warning and other satellite systems.

That space-related work is distinct from Boeing’s other endeavors. The company is divided into three units: one focused on making commercial airplanes; another focused on making military aircraft, missiles and space programs; and a third that provides services and maintenance to Boeing’s customers.

The units share some broad similarities, but are run independently, with different processes, products and cultures. Much of the company’s commercial-plane assembly takes place in the Seattle area or in North Charleston, S.C. Work on Boeing’s space programs is more diffuse and carried out across the country, including in Alabama, California, Louisiana, Colorado, Texas and Florida.

“They’re basically businesses within a business,” Ken Herbert, an analyst with RBC Capital, said of Boeing’s space programs.

Those programs, including Boeing’s work on Starliner, are prestigious, but still account for a small fraction of the business generated by Boeing’s defense unit, which itself is smaller than its commercial airplane business.

What is Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft?

At first glance, the Boeing Starliner looks much like the command module used by NASA during the Apollo moon missions in the 1960s and the 1970s.

That’s not a random coincidence. The ability of that cone-shaped vehicle to keep astronauts safe during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere is well documented.

At 15 feet in diameter, Starliner is slightly bigger than the Apollo spacecraft. The capsule and the service module — the part of the spacecraft that provides power and propulsion during the flight before being discarded just before landing — are together 16.5 feet in height.

The spacecraft is large enough to carry up to seven astronauts, but NASA missions will carry a crew of four. Boeing has the option of selling a fifth seat to a private customer who wants to tag along.

Each Starliner capsule is designed to be used for up to 10 missions; by contrast, the service module — the cylindrical component below the capsule, containing power, propulsion and life support systems — burns up in the atmosphere, and a new one is needed for each trip.

Boeing has built three Starliner capsules. The first was used only to demonstrate the ability to quickly fly astronauts to safety in case of an emergency on the launchpad. That capsule will not be used for any missions to orbit.

The Starliner used for this mission previously flew in space in 2020 during the first test flight with no crew, which was cut short because of technical problems. Suni Williams, the pilot for this mission, has named the spacecraft Calypso, a nod to the research ship used by Jacques Cousteau, a French undersea explorer.

The third Starliner, still unnamed, was used for the second test without crew in 2022 and will fly four astronauts to the International Space Station for the first operational mission, scheduled for next year.

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

TED Radio Hour

• Subscribe to NPR's Up First Email

Cathryn Virginia hide caption

A Love Letter To The Ocean

Oceans cover nearly 75% of the Earth. While they seem vast and frightening, they're also enchanting and whimsical. This hour, TED speakers dive into stories of connection — and even love — in the sea.

A love story... that begins with a sea urchin

by  Manoush Zomorodi ,  Katie Monteleone ,  Sanaz Meshkinpour

What can we learn from the sex lives of fish?

by  Manoush Zomorodi ,  James Delahoussaye ,  Sanaz Meshkinpour

Why the strange and wonderful parrot fish is in trouble

by  Manoush Zomorodi ,  Fiona Geiran ,  Sanaz Meshkinpour

Could snail venom someday save your life?

by  Manoush Zomorodi ,  Rachel Faulkner White ,  Sanaz Meshkinpour

• See TED Radio Hour sponsors and promo codes

As a little boy, I used to spin round and round, making noises while waving my hands back and forth in the air. My family called it "explosions." They couldn't quite understand why I was doing that and became a little worried while trying to uncover the reasons. They figured it must be a passing phase. I remember they always jokingly asked, "Alon, will you still be making explosions when you're an adult?" And I replied "yes," confident in my answer, searching for a way to regain focus.

I remember what those "explosions" were. They were an expression of my imagination in the most tangible way I could come up with at the time. I would run in circles, making sounds, as I conjured up what could be considered music, stories, or abstract ideas, though difficult to wrap meaning around.

In fact, I have never stopped making "explosions." The only difference is that today, everyone can hear them.

Lands of Delight | 2019

1. Dawn Fall 2. Echoes Follow 3. Vertigo Queen 4. Neolithic Fantasies 5. Flame Devourer 6. Crimson Summit 7. Prosperity of All Humankind

1. El Despertar 2. Mania 3. Presudeos 4. Encore 5. Holly's Necklace 6. Late Night Skyline 7. Early Morning Winds 8. The Midelar 9. Tyche's Singing 10. Los Recuerdos 11. Halpfire Harmonies

1. Calculating Revolution 2. Praise Our Kings 3. Full Square 4. Beyond Stars 5. Awaiting Midnight 6. Scattered Clouds 7. Graphic Rain 8. Kolor 9. Bugged 10. Barbarian 11. Catharsis Will Never Come 12. Jimmy's House 13. Nothing Ends 14. Half an Hour to Breakdown 15. Releasing the Handcuffs

1. Ephemeran Drift 2. Juice for Mel 3. Grypt 

1. Low Sugar 2. Vacom 3. Stories We've Made 4. Manual 5. Saccharine

Long Awaited Journey | 2017

Masters of the Human Imagination | 2015

Associative Delusions (EP) | 2016

Natural Beheres (EP) | 2015

1. Within Will 2. Within Faith 3. Within Glee 4. Within Persistence 5. Within Grace

Within | February 2024

Mobile Menu Overlay

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

A Proclamation on Securing the   Border

   There are more people around the world who are displaced from their homes today than at any point in time since World War II.  Many factors have contributed to this problem.  Failing regimes and dire economic conditions afflict many countries, including several in the Western Hemisphere.  Violence linked to transnational criminal organizations has displaced substantial numbers of people in Latin America.  The global COVID-19 pandemic upended societies around the globe.  Natural disasters have forced people from their homes.  

     As a result of these global conditions, we have been experiencing substantial levels of migration throughout the Western Hemisphere, including at our southwest land border.  In 2019, encounters nearly doubled from their 2018 level to almost 1 million.  In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic led countries throughout the world to shut their borders and suspend international travel; however, once the pandemic began to recede, international travel resumed, and we again experienced elevated levels of migration throughout the Western Hemisphere, including at our southwest land border.

     On May 11, 2023, as part of my Administration’s work to prepare for the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s public health order under title 42, United States Code, and to return to processing all noncitizens under immigration authorities under title 8, United States Code (title 8), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a final rule, entitled Circumvention of Lawful Pathways (Lawful Pathways rule), encouraging the use of lawful pathways and imposing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility on those who do not use them. 

    The Lawful Pathways rule was designed to address the high levels of migration throughout the Western Hemisphere and further discourage irregular migration by encouraging migrants to use lawful, safe, and orderly processes for entering the United States or to seek protection in other partner nations; imposing a presumptive condition on asylum eligibility for those who fail to do so; and supporting the swift return of those who do not have valid protection claims.

     As a complement to the Lawful Pathways rule and associated enforcement efforts, the Department of State and DHS have taken significant steps to expand safe and orderly pathways for migrants to enter the United States lawfully.  Those steps include establishing Safe Mobility Offices in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Guatemala to facilitate access to lawful pathways; expanding country-specific and other available processes to seek parole on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit; expanding access to visa programs for seasonal employment; establishing a mechanism for noncitizens to schedule a time and place to present at ports of entry in a safe, orderly, and lawful manner through the CBP One mobile application; and expanding refugee admissions from the Western Hemisphere from 5,000 in Fiscal Year 2021 to up to 50,000 in Fiscal Year 2024.

     The Lawful Pathways rule and these complementary measures have made a substantial impact.  On May 12, 2023, DHS returned to processing all noncitizens under title 8 immigration authorities and is processing noncitizens at record scale and efficiency.  Since then, my Administration has maximized the use of expedited removal to the greatest extent possible given limited resources, placing more than 970 individuals encountered at and between ports of entry at the southwest land border into the process each day on average and conducting more than 152,000 credible fear interviews, both of which are record highs.  As a result, from May 12, 2023, to May 1, 2024, my Administration removed or returned more than 720,000 noncitizens who did not have a lawful basis to remain in the United States, the vast majority of whom crossed the southwest land border.  Total removals and returns in the 12 months following May 12, 2023, exceeded removals and returns in every full Fiscal Year since 2010.  The majority of all individuals encountered at the southwest land border from Fiscal Year 2021 to Fiscal Year 2023 were removed, returned, or expelled.

     Despite these efforts, and after months of reduced encounter levels following the changes put in place after May 12, 2023, encounter levels increased toward the end of 2023, and December 2023 saw the highest level of encounters between ports of entry in history, as increasing numbers of people migrated through the Western Hemisphere.  The challenges presented by this surge in migration, which would have been even worse had the Lawful Pathways rule and other measures not been in place, were compounded by the fact that the surge was focused increasingly on western areas of the border in California and Arizona that are geographically remote, challenging to address, and without sufficient pre-existing infrastructure or resources to respond to the surge.  From January to March 2024, encounters decreased from and have remained below levels experienced in November and December 2023, including as a result of increased enforcement by the United States and partner countries.  However, the factors that are driving the unprecedented movement of people in our hemisphere remain, and there is still a substantial and elevated level of migration that continues to pose significant operational challenges.  

    The current situation is also the direct result of the Congress’s failure to update an immigration and asylum system that is simply broken — and not equipped to meet current needs.  While my Administration has vigorously enforced the law within the constraints imposed by the existing system, the statutory framework put in place by the Congress is outdated.  For the vast majority of people in immigration proceedings, the current laws make it impossible to quickly grant protection to those who require it and to quickly remove those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States.  This reality is compounded by the fact that the Congress has chronically underfunded our border security and immigration system and has failed to provide the resources or reforms it needs to be able to deliver timely consequences to most individuals who cross unlawfully and cannot establish a legal basis to remain in the United States.  

     Despite the strengthened consequences in place at our border through the Lawful Pathways rule and the related measures that have led to record returns and removals, encounter levels are exceeding our capacity to deliver those consequences in a timely manner due to the outdated laws and limited resources we have available.  

     My Administration has repeatedly asked the Congress to update the outdated and inadequate immigration statutes, to create a legal framework that is functional and addresses current realities, and to provide additional resources so that we can more effectively deliver consequences at the border.  In August 2023, I requested more than $4 billion in additional funding for border security and related migration issues, including more than $2 billion for urgent DHS border management requirements.  The Congress failed to act. In October 2023, I requested $13.6 billion for border enforcement and migration management.  This request included more than $5 billion for DHS to manage conditions on the southern border, as well as funding for critical capacity enhancements to keep the southern border secure.  The Congress once again failed to provide our border and immigration system with the resources it needs to deliver timely consequences to those who cross unlawfully.

     In early February 2024, a bipartisan group of Senators introduced legislation (bipartisan legislative proposal) containing the toughest and fairest reforms of our asylum laws in decades that would have provided new authorities to significantly streamline and speed up immigration enforcement proceedings for individuals encountered at the border, including those who are seeking protection.  Critically, the bipartisan legislative proposal included nearly $20 billion in additional resources for DHS and other departments to implement those new authorities, such as:      (a)  over 1,500 new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel, including Border Patrol agents and CBP officers;       (b)  over 4,300 new asylum officers and additional U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staff to facilitate timely and fair decisions;       (c)  100 new immigration judge teams to help reduce the asylum caseload backlog and adjudicate cases more quickly;       (d)  shelter and critical services for newcomers in our cities and States; and      (e)  1,200 new U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel for functions including enforcement and deportations. While the bipartisan legislative proposal did not include everything we wanted, senior officials from my Administration worked closely with the bipartisan group of Senators to ensure that the reforms would adequately address the challenges that we have been facing at our southern border for more than a decade. However, the Congress failed to move forward with this bipartisan legislative proposal.  

     The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024 (Public Law 118-47) increased funding for DHS over Fiscal Year 2023, but it did not address the needs identified in various related supplemental requests, nor did it equip the Federal Government with the new authorities from the bipartisan legislative proposal.  In May 2024, when the Senate again considered the bipartisan legislative proposal, the Senate failed to advance the measure. 

     Our broken immigration system is directly contributing to the historic migration we are seeing throughout the Western Hemisphere, exacerbated by poor economic conditions, natural disasters, and general insecurity, and this fact, combined with inadequate resources to keep pace, has once again severely strained our capacity at the border.  The result is a vicious cycle in which our United States Border Patrol facilities constantly risk overcrowding, our detention system has regularly been at capacity, and our asylum system remains backlogged and cannot deliver timely decisions, all of which spurs more people to make the dangerous journey north to the United States.

     The Congress’s failure to deliver meaningful policy reforms and adequate funding, despite repeated requests that they do so, is a core cause of this problem.  Under current law, whenever a noncitizen in expedited removal indicates an intention to apply for asylum or a fear of persecution, they are referred for an interview with an asylum officer and cannot be removed through expedited removal if there is a significant possibility that they could establish eligibility for asylum.  This screening standard is a requirement imposed by the Congress, but it has not functioned well in predicting ultimate success in asylum proceedings.  From 2014 to 2019, 83 percent of individuals referred for an interview with an asylum officer passed the screening stage, meaning that they were not removed pursuant to expedited removal, but less than 25 percent of cases ultimately resulted in a grant of asylum or other protection, often after waiting years to reach a final decision. By imposing a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility on those who cross the border unlawfully, the Lawful Pathways rule has made a meaningful impact in reducing this disparity.  The screen-in rate from May 12, 2023, to March 31, 2024, dropped to 52 percent for individuals who are subject to the rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility.  However, the Lawful Pathways rule alone is inadequate during times of record encounter levels and cannot change the underlying statutory limitations.

     Data confirm that the system has been badly strained for many years and is not functioning to provide timely relief for those who warrant it or timely consequences for those without viable protection claims.  Due to an outdated and inefficient system and insufficient resources that do not allow for prompt adjudication of claims, too many people have had to be processed by the Border Patrol and released with a notice to appear in removal proceedings before an immigration judge since May 2023.  The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service affirmative asylum backlog is now over 1 million cases and growing, with over 300,000 applications filed prior to 2021 still pending.  At the end of Fiscal Year 2023, there were over 2.4 million cases pending in the immigration courts. Pending cases more than doubled from the end of Fiscal Year 2016 to the end of Fiscal Year 2020 and doubled again between that time and the end of Fiscal Year 2023.  Between Fiscal Year 2006 and the end of Fiscal Year 2023, in tandem with historic increases in filings to initiate immigration court proceedings, the immigration courts’ pending caseload increased from approximately 170,000 to approximately 2.46 million.  During Fiscal Year 2023, immigration judges completed more cases than they ever had before in a single year, but more than twice as many cases were received by the immigration courts than were completed.

     The status quo system — the result of outdated laws and inadequate resources — has become a driver for unlawful migration throughout the region and an increasingly lucrative source of income for dangerous transnational criminal organizations and other criminal smuggling organizations that, without countermeasures, will continue to grow in strength and pose significant threats to the safety and security of United States communities and migrants, as well as countries throughout the region. 

     Considering these trends and the decades-long failure of the Congress to address the problem through systemic reform and adequate funding, and following the Congress’s failure to pass the bipartisan legislative proposal, I must exercise my executive authorities to meet the moment.  This proclamation answers the call by suspending entry of noncitizens across the southern border during this time of high border crossings.  Appropriate exceptions are provided, such as for those who are particularly vulnerable or present pursuant to a process the Secretary of Homeland Security determines is appropriate to allow for safe and orderly processing into the United States.  That process will continue to allow for individuals to seek entry to this country each day in a safe and orderly manner, and following their arrival, to seek protection through the appropriate process.  This proclamation, in conjunction with steps to be taken by DOJ and DHS, is needed to enhance our ability to address the historic levels of migration and more efficiently process migrants arriving at the southern border given current resource levels.

     These actions do not change or fully compensate for the fact that our immigration system is under-resourced and broken, nor do they change the fact that there are significant limits to what can be achieved without the Congress fulfilling its responsibility to help solve the unprecedented challenge that we are facing.  No executive action can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources that were in the bipartisan legislative proposal.  But I will continue to take actions, within these constraints, to address the situation at our southern border.

    NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(f) and 1185(a)) and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, hereby find that, absent the measures set forth in this proclamation, the entry into the United States of persons described in section 1 of this proclamation under circumstances described in section 2 of this proclamation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, and that their entry should be subject to certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions.  I therefore hereby proclaim the following:

     Section 1.  Suspension and Limitation on Entry.  The entry of any noncitizen into the United States across the southern border is hereby suspended and limited, subject to section 3 of this proclamation.  This suspension and limitation on entry shall be effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on June 5, 2024.  The suspension and limitation directed in this proclamation shall be discontinued pursuant to subsection 2(a) of this proclamation, subject to subsection 2(b) of this proclamation.

     Sec. 2.  Applicability of Suspension and Limitation on Entry. (a)  The Secretary of Homeland Security shall monitor the number of daily encounters and, subject to subsection (b) of this section, the suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall be discontinued at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on the date that is 14 calendar days after the Secretary makes a factual determination that there has been a 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of less than 1,500 encounters, not including encounters described in subsection 4(a)(iii) of this proclamation.      (b)  Notwithstanding a factual determination made under subsection (a) of this section, the suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall apply at 12:01 a.m. eastern time on the calendar day immediately after the Secretary has made a factual determination that there has been a 7-consecutive-calendar-day average of 2,500 encounters or more, not including encounters described in subsection 4(a)(iii) of this proclamation, until such suspension and limitation on entry is discontinued pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.      (c)  For purposes of subsection (a) and subsection (b) of this section, unaccompanied children (as defined in section 279(g)(2) of title 6, United States Code) from non-contiguous countries shall not be included in calculating the number of encounters.

     Sec. 3.  Scope and Implementation of Suspension and Limitation on Entry.  (a)  The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall apply across the southern border to noncitizens, other than those described in subsection (b) of this section, during such times that the suspension and limitation on entry is in effect.      (b)  The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:           (i)    any noncitizen national of the United States;           (ii)   any lawful permanent resident of the United States;           (iii)  any unaccompanied child as defined in section 279(g)(2) of title 6, United States Code;           (iv)   any noncitizen who is determined to be a victim of a severe form of trafficking in persons, as defined in section 7102(16) of title 22, United States Code;           (v)    any noncitizen who has a valid visa or other lawful permission to seek entry or admission into the United States, or presents at a port of entry pursuant to a pre-scheduled time and place, including:                      (A)  members of the United States Armed Forces and associated personnel, United States Government employees or contractors on orders abroad, or their accompanying family members who are on their orders or are members of their household;                      (B)  noncitizens who hold a valid visa or who have all necessary documents required for admission consistent with the requirements of section 1182(a)(7) of title 8, United States Code, upon arrival at a port of entry;                     (C)  noncitizens traveling pursuant to the visa waiver program as described in section 1187 of title 8, United States Code; and                     (D)  noncitizens who arrive in the United States at a southwest land border port of entry pursuant to a process the Secretary of Homeland Security determines is appropriate to allow for the safe and orderly entry of noncitizens into the United States;           (vi)   any noncitizen who is permitted to enter by the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through a CBP immigration officer, based on the totality of the circumstances, including consideration of significant law enforcement, officer and public safety, urgent humanitarian, and public health interests at the time of the entry or encounter that warranted permitting the noncitizen to enter; and           (vii)  any noncitizen who is permitted to enter by the Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through a CBP immigration officer, due to operational considerations at the time of the entry or encounter that warranted permitting the noncitizen to enter. (c)  An exception under subsection (b) of this section from the suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to section 1 of this proclamation does not affect a noncitizen’s inadmissibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act for a reason other than the applicability of this proclamation. (d)  The Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General are authorized to issue any instructions, orders, or regulations as may be necessary to implement this proclamation, including the determination of the exceptions in subsection (b) of this section, and shall promptly consider issuing any instructions, orders, or regulations as may be necessary to address the circumstances at the southern border, including any additional limitations and conditions on asylum eligibility that they determine are warranted, subject to any exceptions that they determine are warranted. (e)  Nothing in this proclamation shall limit the statutory processes afforded to unaccompanied children upon entering the United States under section 279 of title 6, United States Code, and section 1232 of title 8, United States Code.

     Sec. 4.  Definitions.  (a)  The term “encounter” refers to a noncitizen who:      (i)    is physically apprehended by CBP immigration officers within 100 miles of the United States southwest land border during the 14-day period immediately after entry between ports of entry;      (ii)   is physically apprehended by DHS personnel at the southern coastal borders during the 14-day period immediately after entry between ports of entry; or      (iii)  is determined to be inadmissible at a southwest land border port of entry. (b)  The term “southern coastal borders” means all maritime borders in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida; all maritime borders proximate to the southwest land border, the Gulf of Mexico, and the southern Pacific coast in California; and all maritime borders of the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. (c)  The term “southwest land border” means the entirety of the United States land border with Mexico. (d)  The term “southern border” means the southwest land border and the southern coastal borders.

     Sec. 5.  Severability.  It is the policy of the United States to enforce this proclamation to the maximum extent possible to advance the interests of the United States.  Accordingly, if any provision of this proclamation, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 

     Sec. 6.  General Provisions. (a)  Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

     (i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or      (ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b)  This proclamation shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c)  This proclamation is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this third day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.

                        JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

Stay Connected

We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better.

Opt in to send and receive text messages from President Biden.