JUST IN: SpaceX Formally Launches Mission To Bring Home Astronauts Stranded On ISS

SpaceX has officially launched its rescue mission for the two astronauts who have been stranded at the international space station for months. The company cleared two seats on an already booked mission in order to fit the two crew members, though they will not be returning to earth until early next year.

Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the International Space Station since early June after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft suffered several malfunctions mid-flight. Wilmore and Williams will now be returning to earth on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule rather than the Boeing craft.

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Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, the newly launched flight departed with two empty seats reserved for the stranded astronauts. As a result, Wilmore and Williams will not be returning to earth until late February.

Officials said there was no way to bring the astronauts home earlier without interrupting other scheduled missions.

By the time they return, the two astronauts will have been in outer space for the last eight months. They expected to be gone just a week when they signed up for what was Boeing's first astronaut flight, which launched in June.

NASA ultimately concluded that a return flight on the Boeing craft would be far too risky after a series of mechanical failures.

On Saturday, Williams and Whitmore watched the launch of the dragon capsule via a live link sent to the space station, prompting a cheer of "Go Dragon!" from Williams, NASA deputy program manager Dina Contella said.

Rookie NASA astronaut Zena Cardman and veteran space flier Stephanie Wilson were pulled from the flight after the space agency decided to go with SpaceX for the rescue mission. "Every crewed launch that I have ever watched has really brought me a lot of emotion. This one today was especially unique," Hardman said after watching the launch, per the AP.

"It was hard not to watch that rocket lift off without thinking, 'That's my rocket and that's my crew.' "

SpaceX has emerged as NASA's main partner in the agency's commercial crew program, which was established more than a decade ago. SpaceX beat Boeing in delivering astronauts to the space station in 2020, and it is now up to 10 crew flights for NASA, the AP noted.

The Starliner disaster represents a major step-back for Boeing, whose space program was already delayed by multiple years and hundreds of millions of dollars over budget. The Starliner that left Wilmore and Williams in space landed without any issues in the New Mexico desert on September 6, and has since returned to Kennedy Space Center.