Witness SpaceX send a rescue crew for the stranded Starliner astronauts.

      At 7:03 p.m. EDT on Friday, March 14, 2025, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, carrying NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, took off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

      Four astronauts are en route to the International Space Station (ISS). Following multiple delays, the Crew-10 members launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 p.m. ET on Saturday night. The crew comprises NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.

      “Congratulations to our NASA and SpaceX teams on the 10th crew rotation mission under our commercial crew partnership. This achievement showcases NASA’s ongoing dedication to maintaining American leadership in space and fostering growth in our national space economy,” stated NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “Through these missions, we are establishing the groundwork for future explorations, extending from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. Our international crew will contribute to significant scientific research and technology advancement, yielding benefits for all of humanity.”

      You can rewatch the NASA livestream of the launch below.

      Personnel from Crew-10 will replace the current Crew-9 members on the ISS, including Starliner astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Wilmore and Williams were initially scheduled to spend just over a week in space as part of the test for Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft, but problems with the vehicle's thrusters resulted in them joining the ISS crew for nine months. They, along with their Crew-9 teammates, are finally preparing to return home.

      Despite claims to the contrary, Wilmore and Williams have neither been abandoned nor forgotten. The plan to bring them back with other Crew-9 astronauts has been established for months, only slightly delayed from the original February departure due to issues with the SpaceX vehicle.

      With Crew-10’s arrival at the ISS approaching, there will be a brief handover period before the Crew-9 astronauts can head back to Earth.

      The Crew-10 astronauts are expected to reach the ISS tonight, March 15, at 11:30 p.m. ET. If you wish to watch their Dragon spacecraft arrive at the station, dock, and the astronauts being welcomed to their new home, you can tune in via NASA’s streaming service, NASA+, starting at 9:45 p.m. ET.

      Georgina has served as a space writer for Digital Trends for six years, focusing on human space exploration and planetary topics…

      How to watch SpaceX’s 8th Starship flight test on Thursday

      [Update: SpaceX has rescheduled the targeted launch date to Thursday, March 6.] SpaceX has announced that it aims for Thursday, March 6, for the eighth test of the Starship, the most powerful rocket to ever fly. Continue reading for instructions on how to view a livestream of the upcoming flight.

      Problems with Starship force SpaceX to call off test flight at the last minute

      SpaceX planned to conduct another test of the world’s most powerful rocket last night, but the launch was scrubbed just before takeoff. Now, the eighth test flight of the Starship will be postponed for at least a day while engineers investigate issues with the rocket. Starship was set to launch from SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT) on Monday, March 3, and the rocket was fueled and ready on the pad for takeoff. However, the countdown was halted at T-40 seconds, with SpaceX indicating that there might be problems involving both the first stage (the Super Heavy booster) and the upper stage (the Ship).

      SpaceX Crew-10 astronauts’ journey to orbit starts now (sort of)

      SpaceX’s Crew-10 astronauts are scheduled to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 12. However, in many respects, their journey to orbit began on Wednesday. The four crew members — NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov — have just begun their quarantine at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. They will remain there until five days before launch day, when they’ll be moved to the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center for final mission preparations.