March 14 (UPI) -- NASA and SpaceX launched the Crew-10 astronauts to the International Space Station on Friday night in a mission that also will aim to replace Starliner astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.
At 7:03 p.m. EDT under a clear early evening sky and a setting sun, the launch went off as planned. Friday's success came after SpaceX ground teams on Thursday had resolved an air pocket issue in the hydraulics system for the clamp arm supporting the Falcon 9 rocket.
The mission is a joint federal and private venture.
"I am extremely proud of our NASA and SpaceX ground engineers and joint operations teams in quickly identifying and resolving this issue," NASA Commercial Crew Program manager Steve Stich in a statement. "I'm especially proud of the team's systematic approach throughout the countdown, analyzing data and making thoughtful decisions to ensure the integrity of our mission. Their commitment to both excellence and safety is a true testament to the strength of this integrated team."
The Crew-10 mission lifted off from pad 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
Minutes after launch, Falcon 9's first stage landed on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Then, Dragon went into low Earth orbit, where it will chase the International Space Station for docking later.
It was the 22nd launch of 2025 from the Space Coast.
Onboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft were NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.
This was the second flight for McClain and Onishi and the first for Ayers and Peskov.
The Crew-10 mission plans to get to the space station for docking at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday.
"Crew-10 will rotate roles with NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 crew, including agency astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. The Crew-9 mission, which has a separate Dragon spacecraft already docked to the space station, will then undock from the orbiting laboratory and return to the Earth. Crew-9 undock is scheduled for no earlier than Wednesday, March 19," NASA said.
Ultimately, there will be 11 crew members on the ISS.
Aboard the Crew-9 capsule, Williams and Wilmore will ride back to Earth "no earlier than Wednesday March 19," according to NASA. They will be joined by NASA's Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Aleksandr Gorbunov, who arrived at the ISS on Sept. 29, 2024.
Williams and Wilmore went to the Space Station on the troubled Boeing Starliner June 5, 2024, for what was planned as a week-long test flight. Due to Starliner issues it became a nine-month mission.
Starliner had helium leaks and thruster issues.
NASA said in December that they would remain on the Space Station and would return to Earth no later than late March 2025.
SpaceX said: "The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew NASA's Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7 missions to and from the space station. This will be the second flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched the SES 03b mPOWER-e mission. Following stage separation, Falcon 9's first stage will land on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station."
The Crew-10 launch had been scheduled for Wednesday but was scrubbed by the hydraulics issue on the ground support clamp arm, according to NASA.