SpaceX and NASA have launched a mission to bring back US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS), where they have been stranded for nine months.
The launch took place at 7:03 ET on Friday, with a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-10 mission.
The mission also sent four 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 10th crew rotation mission under SpaceX’s human space transportation system and the 11th crewed flight to the ISS under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, including the Demo-2 test flight.
Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS since June last year. Originally, their stay was intended to last about a week.
Ahead of the launch, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth shared a video message expressing his support for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10, Fox News reported.
In a video posted on X, Hegseth said, “I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you.” He added, “We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon.” “President Trump said to [Elon Musk](https://financialexpress.com/about/elon-musk/), ‘get the astronauts home and do it now’ – and they’re responding,” Hegseth said.
“And they’re bringing NASA astronauts, \[who\] also happen to be retired US Navy Capt. Butch Wilmore and retired US Navy Capt. Suni Williams, home,” he added, as reported by Fox News.
**(With inputs from ANI)**