Space X Sunita Williams

SpaceX, NASA launch mission to bring back astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore from ISS

SpaceX and NASA have launched a mission to bring back U.S. astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS), where they have been stranded for nine months.

The mission lifted off at 7:03 ET on Friday, with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-10 mission. Along with the return of Williams and Wilmore, the launch also carried four new crew members to the ISS: NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

Crew-10 marks the tenth crew rotation mission under SpaceX’s human space transportation system and the eleventh flight carrying a crew to the ISS through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, including the Demo-2 test flight.

Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS in June last year and were originally scheduled to stay for about a week. However, they remained aboard the station for nine months due to unexpected delays.

Ahead of the launch, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shared a video message expressing support for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 mission. In a video posted on X, Hegseth said, “I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you. We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon.”

He further stated, “President Trump said to Elon Musk, ‘Get the astronauts home and do it now’—and they’re responding.” He added that the mission is bringing home NASA astronauts who are also retired U.S. Navy Captains, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, as reported by Fox News.