A SpaceX capsule sent to bring back two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS)has successfully docked.
See also: Starliner astronauts will run out of space by 2025
The Dragon, which has two empty seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, docked at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time (10:30 p.m. BST).
The pair arrived at the station aboard Boeing's new Starliner for an eight-day mission in June, but were forced to remain there due to a bug discovered during the flight. They are now expected to return to Earth in February.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov .
Hague, who has previously served on the ISS, and Gorbunov will join the space station crew before taking astronauts Wilmore and Williams back to Earth.
The launch was scheduled for Thursday, but was delayed due to Hurricane Helene, which has caused massive damage in the southeastern US, including Florida, in recent days.
The landing took place while the space station was 426 kilometers above Botswana in southern Africa.
See also: Boeing's Starliner cannot return to Earth
Footage from inside the ISS showed Hague and Gorbunov smiling and posing for photos with the rest of the crew after their arrival.
The initial Starliner flight, which launched on June 5, was the first test flight of the capsule with astronauts on board and Boeing's first attempt, after SpaceX, to transport astronauts to the ISS. During the flight, it encountered a number of problems, including leaks of helium - which is used in its propulsion system - and problems with several of its thrusters.
Boeing and NASA engineers spent months investigating, but in late August NASA decided it wouldn't be safe to try to bring Wilmore and Williams home on Starliner.
The capsule had already been delayed for several years due to problems during its development, as well as problems discovered during uncrewed test flights in 2019 and 2022.
Nasa retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011, leaving it dependent on the Russian Soyuz to shuttle to and from the ISS.
Having two American companies to carry out the missions has been a key goal of the agency for some time, and in 2014 Boeing and SpaceX were awarded contracts worth $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion respectively.
See also: Boeing launches NASA astronauts for the first time
In 2020, SpaceX – founded by billionaire Elon Musk – became the first private company to transport astronauts to the ISS.
Source: BBC
