NASA and SpaceX on Wednesday postponed the launch of the agency’s Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a "hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A" at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
The next available launch window is no earlier than 7:26 pm EDT on Thursday, pending a review of the technical issue, NASA stated. Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy remains the designated site for the mission.
The launch coverage will commence at 3:25 pm (local time) on NASA+, with docking at the ISS targeted for 11:30 pm on Friday. The Crew-10 mission, carrying four astronauts, is intended for a six-month stay aboard the space station.
Crucially, the mission also aims to return NASA astronauts Barry Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have remained aboard the ISS for an extended period.
According to NASA, "With a 13 March Crew-10 launch, the Crew-9 mission, comprising NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Sunita Williams, and Butch Wilmore, alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, would depart the space station no earlier than 9:05 am on Monday, 17 March, subject to favourable weather conditions at splashdown sites off the Florida coast."
"Crew-10 is the tenth crew rotation mission of SpaceX’s human space transportation system and its eleventh crewed flight, including the Demo-2 test flight, under NASA’s Commercial Crew Programme," the agency further stated.
Ahead of the scheduled launch, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth extended his support for the mission through a video message.
"I just want to take a brief moment to say we are praying for you. We wish you Godspeed, and we look forward to welcoming you all home soon," he remarked in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Hegseth added, "President Trump said to Elon Musk, ‘get the astronauts home and do it now’—and they’re responding. And they’re bringing NASA astronauts, [who] also happen to be retired US Navy Capt. Butch Wilmore and retired US Navy Capt. Suni Williams, home."
Wilmore and Williams have been on the ISS for nine months, having arrived in June last year. Their stay, originally planned for about a week, was prolonged due to technical complications with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
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The duo had travelled to the ISS aboard the Starliner, which later returned to Earth unmanned in September following malfunctions.
The spacecraft suffered from "helium leaks" and "issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters" while docking with the ISS.
The Crew-10 launch was scheduled after US President Donald Trump urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to accelerate the return of the astronauts, alleging that former President Joe Biden had "abandoned them in space".
On 7 March, Trump stated, "I have authorised Elon Musk to bring back American astronauts—Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore—who have been stranded at the International Space Station since June last year."
Addressing the media at the Oval Office, Trump remarked, "We love you (astronauts), and we’re coming up to get you, and you shouldn’t have been up there so long. The most incompetent President in our history has allowed that to happen to you, but this President won’t let that happen. We’re going to get them out. We’re coming up to get you. I’ve authorised Elon, because, you know, they’ve been left up there. I hope they like each other. But they’ve been—maybe they’ll love each other. I don’t know. They’ve been left up there."
Trump also commented on Williams, saying, "And I see the woman with the wild hair, good, solid head of hair she’s got. There’s no kidding. There’s no games with her hair. But, and you know, there’s a danger up there, too. They can have some failures up there. That would be very bad. You’ve got to get them out. So I’ve authorised Elon a week ago. I said, you know, we have two people up there that Biden and Kamala left up there. And he knows it very well. I said, are you equipped to get him? He (Elon) said, yeah, he’s got a starship. And they’re preparing it right now."
Expressing his intention to personally welcome the astronauts upon their return, Trump added, "Well, when they come back, I’ll greet them. How about that? No, no, we’re going to get them out. I’ve authorised Elon Musk to go and get them. And he’s prepared to do so."
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