Texas: SpaceX and NASA have launched a mission to return US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station (ISS), where they had been stranded for nine months. The mission began with a lift-off at 7:03 ET on Friday, using a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-10 mission.

The launch also saw the deployment of four crew members to the ISS: NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA 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 flight with a crew aboard the ISS as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, including the Demo-2 test flight.

Williams and Wilmore had been stranded aboard the ISS for nine months after arriving in June last year. Their mission, which was originally planned for a week, was extended significantly.

Ahead of the launch, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth shared a video message expressing his support for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10. "I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you," he said. "We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon." Hegseth also mentioned that "President Trump said to Elon Musk, 'get the astronauts home and do it now' - and they’re responding."

He added, "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."