A SpaceX capsule sent to bring back two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) has docked.
The Dragon Cabin, which had two empty seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, arrived at 17:30 Eastern Time (22:30 BST).
The pair arrived at the station on Boeing’s new Starliner for an eight-day mission in June, but were forced to stay there because of an error discovered in flight.
They are now expected to return to Earth in February.
The Dragon spacecraft took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday carrying Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
Hague, who has worked on the ISS before, and Gorbunov will join the space station’s crew before returning Wilmore and Williams to Earth.
The launch was scheduled for Thursday but was delayed due to Hurricane Helene, which has caused widespread destruction across the southeastern United States, including Florida, in recent days.
Docking occurred as the space station flew 265 miles (426 km) above Botswana in southern Africa.
Footage from inside the ISS shows Hague and Gorbunov smiling and posing for photos with the rest of the crew after their arrival.
The original Starliner flight, launched on June 5, was that ship’s first test flight with astronauts on board and Boeing’s first attempt to send astronauts to the ISS.
During the flight, it encountered a number of problems, including leaks of helium gas – the substance used in its propulsion system – and problems with some of its thrusters.
Engineers at Boeing and NASA spent months investigating, but by the end of August, NASA decided that it would not be safe to try to get Wilmore and Williams home on the Starliner.
The spacecraft has been delayed for several years because of development obstacles, as well as problems discovered during uncrewed test flights in 2019 and 2022.
Nasa retired its space shuttle fleet in 2011, leaving the agency dependent on the Russian Soyuz to get to and from the ISS, and having two American companies fly missions has become a goal. main goal for a while.
Boeing and SpaceX were awarded contracts worth $4.2 billion and $2.6 billion, respectively, in 2014.
In 2020, SpaceX – founded by billionaire Elon Musk – became the first private company to send astronauts to the ISS.
