NASA and SpaceX successfully launched the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to return astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore home, who have been living on the station since June 2024.

The Crew-10 mission launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with four astronauts aboard: NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov. They will replace the existing crew, allowing Williams and Wilmore to return.

Williams and Wilmore's mission was originally scheduled as a short eight-day trip on Boeing's Starliner spacecraft. Technical problems with the Starliner prolonged their stay to nine months. The arrival of the Crew-10 will allow their long-awaited return to Earth.

The Crew-10 crew is set to arrive at the ISS on March 15, 2025. After a short handover phase, Williams and Wilmore and NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will leave the station and return to Earth.

This task also underscores the coordinated endeavours of international space agencies and private firms such as SpaceX in guaranteeing ISS crew safety and rotation despite unexpected challenges.