Kennedy Space Center – SpaceX will try again Friday evening to launch a replacement crew at the International Space Station, where a pair of NASA astronauts who flew on Boeing’s Starliner last summer were waiting to get home.
The Crew 10 mission Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to be lifted from KSC’s launch pad 39-A at 7:03pm, topped with Crew Dragon Endurance.
The four members will fly, including NASA astronaut Anne McLain, pilot Nicole Ayers, astronauts onishi, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Roscosmos Kosmono Kirill Peskov, who will command the mission.
Once the launch is up, the quartet is scheduled to arrive at the ISS at 11:30pm on Saturday, with a countdown for Crew 9 missions to return home.
Board Crew-9 will be two Starliner astronauts, Butchwillmore and Sneewilliams, who arrived at the station on June 6, 2024, to appear to be as short as an eight-day stay. Instead, they have been on board for more than nine months.
As Starliner suffered a thruster failure and helium leak on a test flight, NASA ultimately chose to send the two astronauts home without crew until they were able to return home on a Crew-9 mission that had not arrived until September.
Also back home are the crew nine commander, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Golbunov.
Crew-9 will depart from the station earlier than Wednesday, but no return trip to Earth has been announced by NASA. Some of the Dragon flights returned home less than six hours later, while others took more than a day.
Friday’s launch attempt will take place two days after the first attempt, but delays were forced due to issues with clamp arms that would allow the Falcon 9 rocket to stand upright on the pad. You will never let go of the rocket.
According to a NASA update, ground teams on Thursday completed inspections of the support hydraulic system used on Thursday, allowing them to wash away suspected air pockets trapped in the system.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the future,” said Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program Manager. “We are particularly proud of our team’s systematic approach throughout the countdown. We analyze data and make thoughtful decisions to ensure mission integrity. Their commitment to both excellence and safety is a true testament to the strength of this integrated team.”
Space-released Delta 45 weather squadron predicts an opportunity of over 95% due to good launch conditions.
The first stage booster flying on this mission is making its second trip into space, attempting to recover and land in landing zone 1 at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This is the fourth trip to space for the crew’s Dragon Endurance.
Original issue: March 14th, 2025, 6:43am EDT
