SpaceX launches Crew-10 to space station as Starliner astronauts wait

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Mar 14, 2025

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 surged up through blue skies Friday to send a crew on its way to International Space Station where the pair of NASA astronauts who flew up last summer on Boeing’s Starliner have been waiting for a ride home.

The Crew-10 mission lifted off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 7:03 p.m. shortly before sunset topped with the Crew Dragon Endurance, with the white plume of the rocket’s exhaust the only cloud in the skies over the Space Coast.

Crowds at the space center watched in silence as the bright orange speck crept up into the sky, finally breaking into cheers as Dragon separated from the first-stage and brought its four international crew to space.

“Spaceflight is tough, but humans are tougher,” said Crew-10 commander and NASA astronaut Anne McClain once in orbit. “Days like today are made possible only when people choose to do the harder right, over the easier wrong — build a relationship, choose cooperation, and believe in the inherent goodness of all people across the world.”

Joining McClain is fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

“We’re not the first humans to get to orbit, and we wouldn’t be here without the bravery and hard work of those who have paved the way for human spaceflight,” Ayers said. “We now get the unique perspective of Earth without borders and get to revel in the connectedness of humanity.”

Two days after their first attempt was scrubbed, they were back to suit up at KSC’s Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building, once again driving out to the launch pad, walking into the the elevator to hit the button that says, “space,” to then venture down the crew access arm and climb aboard the spacecraft.

Less than three hours later, they were on their way to the space station.

A combination of the multinational crew, the mission’s zero-G indicator was a crocheted crane named “Drug,” the Russian word for “friend.”

“The origami crane is the international symbol for peace, hope and healing,” said McClain. “Crew-10 hope to serve as a beacon of hope, a reminder of what humans can accomplish when we see the goodness in one another and we choose to work together toward a common goal.”

The quartet are slated to arrive to the ISS at 11:30 p.m. Saturday, which would start the countdown for the Crew-9 mission to return home.

On board Crew-9 will be the two Starliner astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who arrived to the station on June 6, 2024 for what was supposed to be as short as an eight-day stay. Instead, they have been on board more than nine months.

The Starliner suffered thruster failures and helium leaks on its test flight so NASA ultimately opted to send it home without crew leaving its two astronauts on board until they could fly home with the Crew-9 mission that didn’t arrive to the station until September.

Also heading back home are Crew-9 commander and NASA astronaut Nick Hague as well as Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

Crew-9 will be departing the station no earlier than Wednesday, although how long the return trip to Earth will be has not been announced by NASA. Some crewed Dragon flights have made the trip home in less than six hours, while others have taken more than a day.

Acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro was able to speak to Wilmore and Williams in the last week, but ahead of launch recalled what they told her when they were gearing up for launch last summer.

“They had told me that they hope they get to stay a little bit longer than eight days in space,” she said. “I don’t know if they meant to stay as long as they got to.”

She expects, though, that leaving will involve mixed emotions.

“Every time you get to go to space, which is what all astronauts want to do, you never know. It might be your last time,” she said. “I’m sure they’re anxious to get home and put their feet on Earth and spend time with their family, but I think that they have enjoyed their time in space.”

Friday’s success comes two days after the scrub of the first attempt, that was stymied when clamp arm that holds the Falcon 9 rocket upright at the pad forced the delay. It wouldn’t let go of the rocket.

Ground teams on Thursday completed an inspection of the support hydraulic system used for the arm and were able to flush a suspected pocket of trapped air in the system, according to an update from NASA.

The first-stage booster flying on this mission made its second trip to space, and returned for a recovery landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Landing Zone 1, doling out a sonic boom to parts of Central Florida.

This is the fourth trip to space for Crew Dragon Endurance.