NASA and SpaceX will replace the capsule to return Starliner astronauts a few days earlier

NASA on Tuesday replaced the astronaut capsule it plans to use for an upcoming scheduled flight to the International Space Station, allowing two Starliner astronauts who have been on the station much longer than expected to return a little earlier, UNN reports citing Reuters.

Details

The US space agency said mission control teams have decided to use a previously launched SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule for its Crew-10 mission to the space station instead of the new SpaceX capsule, which it said had been delayed.

The decision postpones the launch of Crew-10 to March 12 from the previous date of March 25. NASA said it still needs to assess the flight readiness of the previously launched Crew Dragon capsule, called Endeavor, which was used on three previous missions.

The return of the two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sweeney Williams, who flew to the International Space Station last summer on a malfunctioning Boeing Starliner capsule, depended on the arrival of a four-person Crew-10 crew to maintain the American contingent on the station.

The decision followed US President Donald Trump's sudden demand to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk last month to return Wilmore and Williams to Earth "as soon as possible", asking for the completion of their mission, a decision that was largely made last year.

Following Trump's request, NASA reaffirmed its plan to return the astronauts home, saying it would do so "as soon as practicable." In its statement on Tuesday, the agency did not say that the decision to change the Crew-10 capsule was made to return the Starliner crew as soon as possible.

"The human journey into space is full of unexpected challenges," NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said in a statement, praising SpaceX for its flexibility.

Addendum

The exchange of spacecraft affects SpaceX's planned private Fram2 astronaut mission, which was expected to use the Endeavor capsule this year for a polar orbit mission.

The Crew-10 decision is also expected to affect Axiom's planned Crew Dragon mission, which will carry astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary. Axiom, a Houston-based company that organizes private and government astronaut missions using Crew Dragon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX developed its Crew Dragon capsule with about $3 billion from NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which aims to entrust companies with spaceflight in hopes of stimulating the private market and reducing costs.

Boeing's Starliner, which returned to Earth in September without Wilmore and Williams, was developed under the same NASA program but faced engineering flaws.