SpaceX Crew-10 docks at ISS, to bring back stranded astronauts

SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission successfully docked at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, paving the way for the return of NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded in orbit since June.

The Dragon capsule, launched from Texas on Friday, reached the ISS at 12:05 a.m. EST (9:35 a.m. IST) after a 28.5-hour journey from Earth.

The Crew-10 spacecraft carried four astronauts — Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers from NASA, Takuya Onishi from Japan’s JAXA, and Kirill Peskov from Russia’s Roscosmos. The team is expected to spend the next few days getting familiar with the ISS alongside Williams and Wilmore.

Wilmore was the first to greet the Crew-10 team upon their arrival.

Williams and Wilmore have been stuck on the ISS since June due to propulsion issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, which made it unsafe for them to return. Their return was delayed multiple times, including after the arrival of Crew-9 in August due to the absence of an emergency escape pod.

Now that Crew-10 has successfully docked, Williams and Wilmore are expected to return to Earth with the Crew-9 team in the coming days.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk confirmed that their return flight is scheduled to begin soon.

The Crew-10 mission was initially set for Wednesday evening but faced a delay due to a ground support clamp arm issue on the rocket. Despite the setback, the mission is now back on track.

Earlier, Williams and Wilmore were scheduled to return to Earth by the end of March. However, the plan was brought forward after US President Donald Trump reportedly urged Elon Musk to expedite their return.