Elon Musk’s SpaceX was forced to call off its plans to launch four people into orbit Wednesday night as part of a mission to rescue two NASA astronauts stranded by the Boeing Starliner. The launch ran into technical problems on the ground, leaving astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore stuck in space for a little while longer.
USA Today reports that the highly anticipated SpaceX Crew-10 mission, which was set to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and bring back the two astronauts stranded in space by the Boeing Starliner, has been postponed due to a technical issue. The launch, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was scrubbed about 45 minutes before countdown.
According to a NASA livestream, the decision to cancel the launch was made by NASA and SpaceX due to a ground issue on the hydraulic system for clamp arms holding the Falcon 9 rocket in place on the launch pad. The teams will now assess when the safest time for the launch to proceed will be.
The four astronauts onboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule, including NASA astronaut Anne McClain, the mission commander, were informed of the decision and exited the capsule shortly before 8:00 p.m. McClain responded, “Great working with you today, the whole team. I know it was a lot of work to try to get it to go, but like I said earlier, we’ll be ready when the equipment is.”
Had the launch gone as planned, the spacecraft would have docked at the space station’s Harmony module around 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, followed by a hatch opening at 7:45 a.m. and a welcome ceremony. The launch delay also means that astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have spent 9 months stranded in orbit, will have to wait longer to return to Earth. They could have returned as early as Sunday, March 16, if the launch had proceeded as scheduled.
The Crew-10 mission, SpaceX’s 10th science rotation mission to the ISS, is part of NASA’s commercial crew program. The program allows the U.S. space agency to pay SpaceX to launch and transport astronauts and cargo to orbit aboard the company’s own vehicles, enabling NASA to focus on its Artemis lunar program and other deep-space missions, including future crewed expeditions to Mars.
The mission had already been delayed twice, with NASA initially anticipating a February launch. In December, the launch was pushed to late March to give SpaceX more time to prepare a new Dragon capsule for liftoff. The launch date was then moved back up to mid-March, likely due to pressure from President Donald Trump and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, when NASA decided to use a “previously flown” Dragon named Endurance.
Read more at USA Today here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
