Billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday (local time) said that US President Donald Trump had asked him to facilitate the return of the two Boeing Starliner astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on the space station since June 2024, as soon as possible.
The SpaceX CEO claimed that it was "terrible" that the pair were left "stranded" at the International Space Station (ISS) by former President Joe Biden's administration for so long, even though NASA had already roped in SpaceX months ago to return both astronauts as part of its Crew-9 mission.
"The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so," Musk said in a post on X.
"Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long," he added.
Trump Responds
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that SpaceX will "soon" begin a mission to repatriate two American astronauts who have been stranded for months on the International Space Station.
"Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without specifying when the mission would take place.
NASA has continuously said that astronauts are not stranded and that they are healthy, and in good spirits.
The Mission
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams launched to the ISS aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. The flight, which was intended to last only 10 days, experienced a rocky journey. After arriving at the space station, NASA and Boeing worked for weeks to better understand the problems in the spacecraft but it was ultimately decided that it was too risky to return the Startliner with the crew.
Following this, in August 2024, the space agency announced that it had asked SpaceX to bring Williams and Wilmore home aboard the SpaceX Crew-9 capsule. SpaceX, the private company founded by billionaire Musk, has been flying regular missions every six months to allow the rotation of ISS crews.
The two astronauts were slotted into Crew-9, with NASA removing two of the four crew members who were set to launch on the SpaceX Dragon in September.
Instead, only an astronaut and cosmonaut were launched aboard that flight to make room for Williams and Wilmore, who were set to return home at the end of the expedition in February of 2025.
However, there was another delay in December, because SpaceX needed more time to work on the latest Dragon spacecraft, which will be debuting with the launch of Crew-10.
That meant Crew-9, including the two Boeing astronauts, would not be back home until late March after Crew-10 reached the ISS.
But Musk's latest post suggested that the Crew Dragon capsule, named 'Freedom,' may make an early departure from the ISS, with Wilmore and Williams onboard.
