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NASA and SpaceX have postponed the launch of a replacement crew composed of four astronauts who were slated to head to the International Space Station (ISS). This delay impacts the long-anticipated return of U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been aboard the ISS for nine months.
Originally, the mission intended to launch a SpaceX rocket from Florida, facilitating the return of Wilmore and Williams, who have been stranded after a problematic journey on Boeing’s Starliner.
The postponement was announced following a hydraulic issue found in a ground support clamp arm associated with the Falcon 9 rocket, according to a NASA statement. Teams are currently addressing the mechanical concerns.
NASA has updated its launch schedule to aim for no earlier than 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 GMT) on Friday, having previously decided to forego a Thursday attempt due to anticipated high winds and rain in the trajectory area of the Dragon spacecraft.
Should the Crew-10 launch take place on Friday, it will allow the Crew-9 mission, which includes Wilmore and Williams, to return from the ISS on March 19. This schedule adjustment follows calls from President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, to expedite their return.
What was initially planned as an eight-day mission aboard the ISS has stretched longer for veteran astronauts Wilmore and Williams, both of whom are seasoned U.S. Navy pilots. Notably, last year’s Starliner mission returned to Earth without them.
The scheduled Falcon 9 launch was expected to occur from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral at 7:48 p.m. ET (2348 GMT) and would carry two U.S. astronauts along with one each from Japan and Russia.
Throughout their extended stay aboard the ISS, Wilmore and Williams have been collaborating on various research and maintenance tasks with the rest of the crew and have reported remaining safe. In a conversation on March 4, Williams expressed her eagerness to reunite with her family and dogs upon returning to Earth.
“It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” Williams remarked regarding her family’s experience. “We’re here, we have a mission – we’re just doing what we do every day, and every day is interesting because we’re up in space and it’s a lot of fun.”
The upcoming Crew-10 mission, typically a routine rotation, has taken on political dimensions, as both Trump and Musk have controversially pointed fingers at former President Joe Biden regarding the delays affecting Wilmore and Williams.
The pressure from Trump and Musk for an expedited return is noteworthy, constituting an unusual level of involvement in NASA’s human spaceflight operations. The mission’s original target launch date was March 26, which was adjusted after a different capsule became available sooner.
Upon the arrival of the new Crew-10 team at the ISS, Wilmore and Williams, alongside NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will be ready to return to Earth aboard a capsule that has been docked at the station since September, as part of the prior Crew-9 mission.
Wilmore and Williams must remain at the station until the new Crew-10 spacecraft arrives to ensure sufficient U.S. astronaut presence for ongoing maintenance operations, per NASA’s protocols.
The two astronauts launched to the ISS in June as the inaugural test crew of Boeing’s Starliner, which has encountered propulsion issues in outer space. NASA subsequently deemed it too hazardous for Wilmore and Williams to return via the same spacecraft, leading to the current strategy of bringing them back in a SpaceX capsule.
Boeing developed Starliner under a substantial $4.5 billion NASA contract designed to compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which has been the primary vehicle for crew transportation to the ISS since 2020. Starliner’s previous mission marked its first crewed test flight, a critical requirement before it could be certified for regular astronaut missions.
Developing Starliner has faced numerous engineering challenges and financial overruns since 2019, placing it significantly behind SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which was similarly built with a $4 billion NASA contract.
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