SpaceX shares new timeline for rescue mission after launch to retrieve stranded astronauts was postponed

SpaceX has announced a new launch date after abruptly cancelling a rescue mission to bring home stranded astronauts.

Aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, the Crew-10 mission was set to lift off on Tuesday (12 March) at 7:48 pm EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers (NASA), Takuya Onishi (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Kirill Peskov (Roscosmos), were scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday and facilitate the return of NASA astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams.

However, less than an hour before takeoff, SpaceX and NASA called off the launch due to an issue with the hydraulic system of the launch tower.

SpaceX clarified that the problem wasn’t with the Falcon 9 rocket or Dragon spacecraft, but rather a ground system issue.

The launch has now been rescheduled for Friday.

SpaceX posted on X: "Now targeting no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9's launch of @NASA's Crew-10 mission".

On the website, they further added: "SpaceX and NASA are targeting no earlier than Friday, March 14 for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon’s 10th operational human spaceflight mission (Crew-10) to the International Space Station from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"Launch is targeted for 7:03 p.m. ET, with a backup opportunity available on Saturday, March 15 at 6:41 p.m. ET."

According to the space agency, SpaceX will live-stream the event on its website and X, starting about 1 hour and 20 minutes before liftoff.

Wilmore and Williams have been on board the International Space Station since last June on what was supposed to be a week-long mission.

The pair was originally part of Boeing’s first crewed test flight of its new Starliner capsule. However, the capsule made an unexpected return to Earth last September following reported technical issues, leaving them stranded nine months longer than expected.

Once Crew-10 arrives at the ISS later this week, they will spend several months familiarising themselves with the outpost's ongoing experiments and maintenance while Crew-9 prepares to return home, the space agency said.

“The crew will spend several months aboard the orbiting laboratory conducting spacewalks, research demonstrations and experiments for the benefit of humanity and deep space exploration,” NASA explained.

Crew-10 is the tenth crew rotation mission of SpaceX’s human space transportation system.

"During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct new research to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit humanity on Earth," SpaceX stated.