NASA said on Wednesday it was partnering with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to return astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to Earth safely from the International Space Station (ISS), which has been in a holding pattern at the station for months, plagued by technical woes.

According to NASA, it wants to get them home “as soon as practicable.” The announcement came a day after former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that SpaceX would soon launch a mission to repatriate the astronauts.

NASA and SpaceX Address Delays

NASA confirmed that it is working with SpaceX to expedite the return of the two astronauts. “NASA and SpaceX are acting quickly to safely return the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore as soon as practical, while also gearing up for the launch of Crew-10 to complete a handover between expeditions,” NASA said on X.

Veteran astronauts Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS in June 2024 aboard Boeing’s Starliner. The mission was originally planned for eight days, but it was extended indefinitely because of technical issues that have been plaguing the spaceship.

In August 2024, NASA announced that SpaceX will take them back to Earth. The mission was initially scheduled for February 2025, but delays in preparing SpaceX’s new spacecraft pushed back their return to Earth.

Crew-10 Launch Expected Before Astronauts’ Return

NASA and SpaceX intend to send the Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station in late March 2025. Only after Crew-10 arrives, can Williams and Wilmore, now on Crew-9, along with their fellow astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, return.

SpaceX has been running crew rotation missions every six months, thereby maintaining the continuous manning of the ISS. The private space company has been conducting commercial resupply missions since 2012 and, since 2020, has also carried NASA’s Commercial Crew missions to the station.

Musk Reacts to Trump’s Statement

Elon Musk, who had funded Trump’s election campaign, reacted to the former president’s statement.

The @POTUS has requested @SpaceX to bring back the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so, Musk said in an X post.
He further panned the Biden administration, which he said: “Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.”

Musk’s statement fueled speculation about whether SpaceX would alter its established schedule at Trump’s request. NASA, however, has not indicated any immediate changes to its current timeline for the astronauts’ return.

NASA Reaffirms Partnership with SpaceX

Highlighting the long-standing collaboration, NASA reiterated its trust in SpaceX’s capabilities. “NASA and SpaceX have collaborated for over a decade. SpaceX has been flying commercial resupply missions to the ISS since 2012, and since 2020 has been launching agency Commercial Crew missions to the station,” the agency said.

NASA and SpaceX are supposed to release an update about their return in weeks, the news said.