SpaceX aborts its rescue mission for stranded astronauts at the last minute.

NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams have been on board the International Space Station (ISS) since last June on what was supposed to be a week-long mission.

The mission was set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft at 7:48 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

A new group of ‘Crew-10’ astronauts were scheduled to arrive on the ISS by approximately 6am on Thursday and facilitate the pair’s return to Earth.

However, less than an hour before it was due to blast off, NASA stood down the launch and Elon Musk’s SpaceX made a last-minute announcement saying that it had aborted its plans.

This is reportedly due to an issue with the hydraulic system of the launch tower.

SpaceX clarified that the problem wasn’t with the rocket or spacecraft itself, but rather a ground system issue.

The next launch is now scheduled for Friday (14 March).

SpaceX shared an update on their website regarding the postponed Crew-10 Mission: “SpaceX and NASA are targeting no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s 10th operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-10).

“Launch is targeted for 7:03 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Saturday, March 15 at 6:41 p.m. ET.”

Crew-10 is the tenth crew rotation mission of SpaceX’s human space transportation system, set to replace Crew-9 on the ISS and bring back Wilmore and Williams.

The international group on Crew-10 includes NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, along with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov.

Once Crew-10 finally arrives at the ISS, they will spend several months familiarising themselves with the station’s ongoing science and maintenance while Crew-9 prepares to return home, the space agency said.

“The crew will spend several months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations and experiments for the benefit of humanity and deep space exploration,” NASA explained.

Wilmore and Williams were originally part of Boeing’s first crewed test flight of its new Starliner capsule. However, technical issues forced the capsule to return to Earth without them last September – leaving them stranded nine months longer than expected.

Despite media narratives calling them ‘stuck’, both astronauts have maintained that they are not in distress and have been making the most of it.

“Of course, you know, we came up here thinking we’d be only here for a little while and do our test flight, but then the added time here has allowed us to do all the science experiments,” Williams explained.

“We’ve gone through a lot of holidays together. We’ve learned how to make cakes up here for each other. So it’s been a lot of fun actually.”

Meanwhile, both President Trump and his close ally Musk have repeatedly blamed the Biden administration for ‘[allowing it] to happen.’

Trump said earlier this month: “We love you, and we’re coming up to get you, and you shouldn’t have been up there so long.”

The space saga of Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore is finally coming to an end.

While the former has insisted the pair of NASA astronauts aren’t stranded aboard the International Space Station, the fact their eight-day mission has turned into a 278-day one (and counting) has us all feeling for them.

Capturing the attention of the world and even being used as political pawns by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the dynamic duo has barely been out of the news since their Boeing Crew Flight Test starliner malfunctioned and had to be sent back to Earth without them.

The POTUS had called on Musk to go and ‘rescue’ Williams and Wilmore, but finally, NASA has confirmed the date they should be back on Earth.

Although the pair will have to go through a brutal regime of rehab, we’re sure they’ll be more than happy to have finally left the confines of the ISS.

As reported by Space.com, NASA has cleared the Crew-10 relief crew that will launch inside the SpaceX Dragon on March 12.

NASA officials say that Williams and Wilmore should return to Earth on March 16, by which point, they’ll have been in space for 283 days.

While the empty Starliner headed back in September 2024, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov flew as part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission with two empty seasons on their Dragon for Williams and Wilmore. All four will fly back once the relief crew reaches the ISS.

ISS program manager Dana Weigel explained: “When we looked at the situation at the time, we had a Crew-9 launch in front of us. It made sense to take the opportunity to bring Crew-9 up with just two seats and have Butch and Suni fill in, and do the rest of the long-duration mission.

Crew-10 will take off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center for a mission expected to last six months.

This crew is commanded and piloted by NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, who are joined by mission specialists JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

These four were due to fly on SpaceX’s brand-new Dragon, but with pressure mounting to bring back Williams and Wilmore, they’re now flying on the veteran Endurance capsule that’s already been to the ISS and back three times.

Despite pressure from Trump, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stitch said it’s typical for missions to face delays: “We’re always looking and refining the manifest. We started looking at that schedule, and at that time, early this year, late January, that’s when we finally decided we’ll move to [Endurance].”

Endurance and Crew-10 are due to launch at 7:48 p.m. EDT on March 12 and reach the ISS about 14 hours later.

While Williams and Wilmore’s stay is still a way off the 437 days that Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov spent aboard the Mir Space Station in 1994 and 1995, they’ll undoubtedly be glad to be back with their loved ones.

SpaceX has announced a new launch date after abruptly cancelling a rescue mission to bring home stranded astronauts.

Aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, the Crew-10 mission was set to lift off on Tuesday (12 March) at 7:48 pm EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers (NASA), Takuya Onishi (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos), were scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday and facilitate the return of NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams.

However, less than an hour before takeoff, SpaceX and NASA called off the launch due to an issue with the hydraulic system of the launch tower.

SpaceX clarified that the problem wasn’t with the Falcon 9 rocket or Dragon spacecraft, but rather a ground system issue.

The launch has now been rescheduled for Friday.

SpaceX posted on X: “Now targeting no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9’s launch of @NASA’s Crew-10 mission”.

On the website, they further added: “SpaceX and NASA are targeting no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s 10th operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-10) to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“Launch is targeted for 7:03 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Saturday, March 15 at 6:41 p.m. ET.”

According to the space agency, SpaceX will live-stream the event on its website and X, starting about 1 hour and 20 minutes before liftoff.

Wilmore and Williams have been on board the International Space Station since last June on what was supposed to be a week-long mission.

The pair was originally part of Boeing’s first crewed test flight of its new Starliner capsule. However, the capsule made an unexpected return to Earth last September following reported technical issues, leaving them stranded nine months longer than expected.

Once Crew-10 arrives at the ISS later this week, they will spend several months familiarising themselves with the outpost’s ongoing experiments and maintenance while Crew-9 prepares to return home, the space agency said.

“The crew will spend several months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations and experiments for the benefit of humanity and deep space exploration,” NASA explained.

Crew-10 is the tenth crew rotation mission of SpaceX’s human space transportation system.

“During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct new research to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit humanity on Earth,” SpaceX stated.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was forcibly delayed right before it was about to take off, preventing the rescue mission from commencing and once again delaying the return of stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS).

Turns out that even when you’ve got the go-ahead and think that you’re ready to complete a long-awaited space launch, things can still go wrong and delay the procedure at the last minute.

Following US President Donald Trump’s request for Elon Musk to ‘go get’ stranded pair Williams and Wilmore from the ISS, the SpaceX CEO has incessantly pushed the blame for delays on the Biden administration.

He indicated that the last government was ‘extremely antagonistic’ towards his private space company, yet delays continue to push back the return date that those on the International Space Station have been waiting over nine months for.

Although it was supposed to be just an eight day mission, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been ‘stranded’ upon the ISS since June last year after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft experienced issues.

The Starliner was ordered to return to Earth without passengers, and their retrieval was transferred over to SpaceX, with Musk’s company now taking responsibility.

However, issues with their very own Crew-10 mission continued to delay the rescue, and it looks like things still aren’t ready to go, despite four astronauts sat in their seats ready for takeoff.

As reported by the Mirror, plans for takeoff at the Kennedy Space Center were scrapped following a problem identified with the launch pad and critical hydraulic system, and a SpaceX commentator indicated that the launch won’t go ahead “unless we know we can do so safely and reliably.”

Precautions are vitally important just under a week after the company’s Starship 8 test launch saw the rocket burst into flames before crashing back down onto Earth.

Following the delay, SpaceX has announced that they are targeting “no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s 10th operational human spaceflight mission,” with a reserve backup also scheduled for the day after in case there are any further issues.

Many on social media are offering wishes of safety and good luck for this second launch attempt, and hopefully it will go off without any issues, letting Crew-10 begin operations and returning Williams and Wilmore from their extended stay.

Unfortunately for the ‘stranded’ pair, they won’t be able to immediately return to normal life as they will be immediately transferred to a medical rehabilitation center where they will undergo physical tests for around six weeks.

This is due to the effect that such a lengthy stay in space has on the body, as even strenuous daily exercise isn’t enough to avoid muscle loss, making simple actions like learning to walk again challenging for astronauts.