Nasa and SpaceX are set to launch the Crew-10 mission on Friday (March 14) at 7:03 pm EST (2303 GMT) from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a critical step that will facilitate the return of veteran astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June.
The mission, which was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was delayed due to a technical issue with ground systems, will send a four-member crew aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to the ISS. Their arrival will allow Williams and Wilmore to depart, with Nasa stating that their return is tentatively planned for March 19, pending weather conditions.
Williams and Wilmore, both former US Navy pilots, were testing Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft on its maiden crewed flight last year. However, propulsion issues rendered the vehicle unfit to bring them back, extending their intended short-duration stay to over nine months. The Starliner eventually returned to Earth empty, without experiencing further major issues.
Their prolonged stay has drawn widespread interest, as astronauts typically rotate out of the ISS every six months. “The unexpected nature of their prolonged stay away from their families — they had to receive additional clothing and personal care items because they hadn’t packed enough — has garnered interest and sympathy,” a report noted.
The situation has also become a political talking point, with President Donald Trump and his close advisor Elon Musk suggesting that former President Joe Biden “abandoned” the astronauts and rejected a plan for their earlier return.
The Crew-10 mission will be led by Nasa astronaut Anne McClain, with Nichole Ayers as pilot, and mission specialists Takuya Onishi of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos. After launch, they will take approximately 14 hours to reach the ISS.
Nasa stated that the Crew-9 astronauts, including Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, will return aboard Crew Dragon Freedom, which was initially flown with two additional empty seats designated for Williams and Wilmore.
This mission marks SpaceX’s 10th operational crew rotation to the ISS under Nasa ’s Commercial Crew Program and the 11th overall crewed flight, including the Demo-2 test mission. The first-stage booster for this launch will be reused for the 13th time and is expected to land at Vandenberg Space Force Base’s Landing Zone 4.
Nasa has confirmed that the Crew-10 mission’s launch will be streamed live on Nasa +, SpaceX’s official X account, and other online platforms.
