The Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX is prepared for carrying the NASA Crew-10 astronauts to the International Space Station at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US. REUTERS

NASA and SpaceX have launched crew to the International Space Station that will bring home US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stranded on the orbital lab for nine months.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. ET (2330 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four astronauts who will replace the two stranded comrades.

Astronauts Wilmore and Williams, both of whom are veteran NASA astronauts and retired US Navy test pilots and were the first to fly Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the ISS in June.

But Starliner’s propulsion system problem during the flight forced an extension of their planned eight-day stay as NASA deemed it too risky for them to fly home on the craft, which returned to Earth empty in September.

A routine Crew-10 flight mission is a long-awaited key step to bring the astronaut duo back to Earth. They are scheduled to depart the station on March 19 after the Crew-10 astronauts arrive Saturday night.

The mission has become entangled in politics as President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, who is also SpaceX’s CEO, say without evidence that former President Joe Biden left the astronauts on the station for political reasons.

NASA says the two astronauts have had to remain on the ISS to maintain its minimum staffing level.

Having seen their mission turn into a normal NASA rotation to the ISS, Wilmore and Williams have been doing scientific research and conducting routine maintenance with the other astronauts.

Trump and Musk’s demand for an earlier return was an unusual intervention, and NASA brought forward the Crew-10 mission from March 26, swapping a delayed SpaceX capsule for one that would be ready sooner.

If Crew-10 launches as planned on Friday, it will dock to the ISS at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday (0330 GMT Sunday), followed by a traditional handover ceremony that will allow for the Crew-9 crew’s departure on March 19. —Reuters