NASA and SpaceX have announced that the launch of a replacement crew to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed due to a technical problem at the launch pad
The mission, which was supposed to bring back U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, was postponed due to a malfunction in the hydraulic system of the ground support clamp arm used to secure the Falcon 9 rocket, Reuters reported.
New Launch Target Set For Friday
Originally scheduled for Wednesday, the launch from Florida has now been rescheduled for no earlier than 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 GMT) on Friday. The revised timing comes after weather concerns, with high winds and rain expected along the rocket’s flight path, forced mission managers to delay the attempt once again.
If the launch proceeds on Friday, Wilmore and Williams are expected to return to Earth on Mar. 19.
Wilmore and Williams have been aboard the ISS since June, carrying out important research and maintenance tasks. Their stay, originally planned for only eight days, has stretched on for much longer due to a malfunction of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which was meant to bring them back last year.
NASA has confirmed that both astronauts are safe and in good health. Williams, in a call with reporters on Mar. 4, shared her excitement about returning to Earth and reuniting with her family.
“It’s been a roller coaster for them, probably a little bit more so than for us,” Williams said of her family. “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 decision to move the mission forward by two weeks came after calls from President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who requested that the astronauts return to Earth sooner than originally planned.
NASA had previously set Mar. 26 as the return date for Wilmore and Williams but adjusted the schedule in response to these requests.
SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission will bring two U.S. astronauts, one Japanese astronaut, and one Russian cosmonaut to the ISS to replace Wilmore and Williams, Associated Press reported.
The Crew-10 team will join the station’s ongoing operations, allowing the two veteran astronauts to return to Earth in a capsule that has been attached to the station since September, as part of the prior Crew-9 mission.
NASA emphasized that Wilmore and Williams could not leave until the new crew arrived to ensure the station had enough personnel to maintain operations.
Extended Stay Due To Boeing Starliner Issues
Wilmore and Williams traveled to the ISS in June as the first test crew aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. However, the Starliner experienced propulsion system issues while in space, leading NASA to determine that it would be too risky for the astronauts to return home on the Boeing craft. As a result, the decision was made to bring them back to Earth aboard a SpaceX capsule.
Boeing developed Starliner as part of a $4.5 billion contract with NASA, designed to compete with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule. Since 2020, the Crew Dragon has been NASA’s only spacecraft used to send astronauts to the ISS from U.S. soil.
The mission with Wilmore and Williams marked the first test flight of the Starliner with crew onboard, which was a necessary step before NASA could approve the capsule for routine crew missions.
