SpaceX wants to launch a mission that aims to return long-delayed Starliner astronauts

CNN — A SpaceX mission set to launch Saturday aims to reunite the Boeing Starliner astronauts with the spacecraft that will bring them home. NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have already been on the International Space Station more than 100 days longer than expected.

The mission, called Crew-9, is on track to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:17 p.m. ET on Saturday. NASA will stream the event live on its website.

The space agency previously postponed Thursday’s launch attempt and rolled the spacecraft back to its hangar as Hurricane Helene threatened Florida and other parts of the southeastern United States. After the danger passed, the mission teams reset everything at the launch pad.

“We got off to a little late start this morning,” Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said at a news conference Friday. “We stand vertically on the pad.”

A backup launch window is also scheduled for Sunday at 12:54 p.m. ET in case weather or technical issues force a pause in Saturday’s attempt.

Unlike other routine trips that carry astronauts to and from the space station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program – eight of which SpaceX has already launched – this mission’s outbound flight will carry only two crew members instead of four: NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Two other seats remain empty and are reserved for Williams and Wilmore for the spacecraft’s return flight in 2025.

The configuration is part of an ad hoc plan that NASA planned to implement in late August after the space agency decided the Starliner capsule was too risky to return with Williams and Wilmore. The two took the Starliner to the International Space Station in early June for a test flight that was expected to last about a week.

At launch, Hague and Gorbunov will be strapped into the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, nicknamed Freedom, which sits atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch vehicle comes to life, powered by nine massive engines located at its base to propel the 1.2 million pound (544,300 kilograms) rocket system into the air.

After about 2½ minutes, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket stops firing and separates from the second stage of the rocket. The second stage then ignites its own engine, further propelling the Crew Dragon capsule to more than 17,000 miles per hour (27,360 kilometers per hour) – or 22 times the speed of sound.

As the crew reaches faster speeds, the rocket’s first stage will retract itself and land on a ground platform in Florida so SpaceX can overhaul and reuse the vehicle.

Once the Crew Dragon capsule reaches orbital speed, the spacecraft will separate from the Falcon 9 second stage and begin maneuvering through orbit on its own, using onboard thrusters to gradually adjust its position, expected to arrive around 6 p.m can connect to the International Space Station Sunday, 5:30 p.m. ET.

Williams and Wilmore watched on September 6 as their Boeing-built capsule returned from the station without them.

Engineers had worked for months to understand the problems with helium leaks and engine failures that had affected the Starliner’s journey to the space station, and NASA ultimately said there were too many uncertainties and risks to allow the vehicle to transport the crew on its way could entrust the return journey. It’s unclear when Boeing’s Starliner might fly again.

NASA remains in the same situation it has been in for four years, with SpaceX the sole provider for the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which was designed to hand the job of crew rotations on the International Space Station to the private sector. (Boeing and SpaceX each received contracts in 2014, and SpaceX began operating routine flights in 2020, while Boeing struggled to advance Starliner development to completion.)

To bring Williams and Wilmore home, NASA turned to SpaceX – opting to remove two previously assigned members from its Crew-9 team to make room for the Starliner test pilots.

The space agency announced in late August that NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson and Zena Cardman would be excluded from the mission. Cardman was slated for her first trip into space and would become commander of the Crew-9 mission.

Gorbunov, a Russian cosmonaut who got his seat through a ride-share agreement between NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, remained on the crew. And Cardman handed over commander duties – the top position in a space flight – to Hague, who had previously been appointed pilot of Crew-9.

“Handing over the helm to (Hague) is both heartbreaking and an honor. “Nick and Alex are truly an outstanding team and they will be ready to step up,” Cardman said in a post on the social platform X, formerly Twitter, after the announcement.

“I only wish (Wilson), Nick, Alex and I could fly together, but we choose without hesitation to be part of something much bigger than ourselves.” Ad astra per aspera. Come on, Crew 9.”

Williams and Wilmore have now integrated into everyday life on the space station. The duo transitioned from a shorter test mission schedule to roles as full-time crew members, with Williams taking on the role of commander in the orbiting laboratory.

Gorbunov and Hague will join them after they dock with the space station on Sunday.

Asked if he was having a hard time adjusting to the prospect of waiting months longer to return home, Wilmore said during a Sept. 13 press conference from the space station, “I’m not going to worry about it.” I mean, it has no use at all. So my transition was – maybe not instantaneous – but it was pretty close.”

Williams said she misses her family and is disappointed to have missed some family events this fall and winter, but added, “This is my happy place. “I love being up here in space. It’s just fun. You know, every day you do something that works, quote it or unquote it, you can turn it on its head. You can do it sideways so it adds a little different perspective.”