The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Tuesday (December 17) that it will once again delay the return of two astronauts from the agency to Earth. Over six months ago, these two astronauts were stranded at the International Space Station due to a malfunction of Boeing’s “Starliner” spacecraft.
NASA announced on Tuesday that the agency had previously planned to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams back to Earth in February 2025, but now this return plan will be delayed once again.
In a press release, the agency stated, “SpaceX, a company contracted by NASA, is now aiming to send a crew of four to the International Space Station no earlier than late March 2025.”
On June 5 this year, Wilmore and Williams took off on Boeing’s “Starliner” spacecraft for its first manned test flight. The original plan was for them to return to Earth after an eight-day stay in orbit, but the spacecraft was found to have a helium leak and propulsion system failure, forcing the return time to be postponed.
NASA later announced that the two astronauts would return to Earth in February 2025 on Elon Musk’s SpaceX company’s “Dragon” spacecraft set to launch.
However, with NASA’s announcement on Tuesday of another delay in the plan, Wilmore and Williams will now spend at least nine more months at the International Space Station.
According to NASA, the delay is due to SpaceX needing more time to prepare for the launch of the brand-new spacecraft.
Steve Stich, the manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, stated in a release on Tuesday, “The manufacturing, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a challenging task that requires meticulous attention to detail.”