SpaceX launches mission to space station that will bring back stranded NASA astronauts next year

SpaceX launched a Falcon rocket with two crew members aboard from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday to carry the Dragon capsule to the International Space Station, which will bring back the astronauts stranded from their troubled Boeing Starliner next year.

In June, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams took off in the Starliner, which suffered from engine problems and helium leaks, leading the space agency to decide to return them to Earth in the capsule after a supposed eight-day mission was too risky.

The manned Starliner finally landed in New Mexico earlier this month, while Wilmore and Williams remained on the space station.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov blasted off Saturday from Kennedy Space Center for the two-seat mission on Dragon that will bring Wilmore and Williams home in February.

Boeing Starliner separates from space station and returns to Earth unmanned while crew stays behind

Two astronauts were excluded from the SpaceX mission to make room for Wilmore and Williams.

Once Hague and Gorbunov arrive at the space station on Sunday afternoon, four other astronauts who were held up for a month due to Starliner’s problems will return to Earth in their own SpaceX capsule.

“There is always something that is changing,” Hague said before the launch of the evolving nature of space missions. “Maybe it was a little more visible to the public this time.”

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy called human spaceflight “complicated and dynamic” at a news conference after launch Saturday.

“What a fantastic day it was,” she said. “We only have two crew members instead of four. A crew change is no small thing.”

She added: “It was the right thing to do.”

The NASA astronaut says the Starliner crew will likely change their exercise routine during the extended stay on the space station

Melroy said the two astronauts who were excluded from the mission were there to provide emotional support to Hague and Gorbunov during the launch.

“The International Space Station is incredible, it’s a very special place,” she added, saying it “allows people to look beyond gravity” and develop technologies to explore the entire solar system.

After reaching the space station, Hague and Gorbunov will conduct hundreds of “exciting experiments,” including studying human cells and blood clotting.

Dana Hutcherson, deputy program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said he was “pleased to report that Nick and Aleksandr are safely in orbit after an “incredibly smooth” launch and are expected to arrive on the planet around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday space station will land.

“The crew is currently taking off their suits,” Hutcherson said, adding that Gorbunov and Hague would get some rest and something to eat in the capsule before preparing to dock.

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After docking with the ISS, a welcoming ceremony awaits you.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.