SpaceX’s Crew-10 Mission Arrives at International Space Station to Relieve Starliner Astronauts

International Space Station – March 16, 2025

SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission docked with the International Space Station (ISS) early this morning at 12:04 a.m. EDT on 3/16/2025, bringing relief to NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard since their Boeing Starliner test flight veered off course last summer. The Crew Dragon Endurance, launched from Kennedy Space Center on 3/14/2025 at 7:03 p.m. EDT, carried four astronauts from the U.S., Japan, and Russia, setting the stage for Williams and Wilmore’s return to Earth after more than nine months in orbit.

The docking unfolded with clockwork precision, as Endurance achieved “soft capture” with the Harmony module’s forward port at 12:04 a.m. EDT, followed by a secure “hard capture” minutes later. Hatches opened at 1:35 a.m. EDT, allowing commander Anne McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers of NASA, JAXA’s Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos’ Kirill Peskov to float aboard. By 1:40 a.m. EDT, a welcome ceremony united them with the station’s current crew, highlighted by their zero-gravity indicator—a crocheted origami crane named “Droog”—drifting in the microgravity environment as a symbol of their multinational bond.

“We’re thrilled to be here and to support the team,” McClain said during the ceremony, her voice beaming through NASA’s live feed. “This mission is about continuity and bringing our colleagues home safely.” The arrival temporarily boosts the ISS population to 11, including Expedition 72/73’s Don Pettit, Alexey Ovchinin, and Ivan Vagner, plus Crew-9’s Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov, alongside Williams and Wilmore.

The primary mission: relieve Williams and Wilmore, whose Starliner saga began on 6/5/2024. Launched from Cape Canaveral on Boeing’s first crewed test flight, they docked on 6/6/2024 expecting an eight-day stay. But thruster failures and helium leaks plagued the spacecraft, forcing NASA to deem it unfit for their return. Starliner departed uncrewed on 9/6/2024, leaving the astronauts to join the ISS crew for an extended mission now exceeding 280 days. Crew-10’s arrival triggers their exit strategy, with the duo set to return no earlier than 3/19/2025 aboard the Crew-9 Dragon Freedom, alongside Hague and Gorbunov.

“This is a huge milestone,” said NASA’s Steve Stich, Commercial Crew Program manager. “Crew-10’s docking ensures we maintain our science goals while safely rotating our astronauts home.” The handover, squeezed into a few days to conserve resources, began immediately, with Williams and Wilmore briefing their successors on station operations.

The Starliner astronauts’ extended stay drew scrutiny, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and others labeling them “stranded”—a claim NASA and the astronauts refute. “We’ve been busy, not stuck,” Williams told reporters last month, highlighting their work on experiments and station upkeep. Wilmore, addressing Musk’s assertion of an earlier SpaceX rescue offer, said today, “We’re grateful for Crew-10—everything’s on track.”

SpaceX’s reliability shone through despite a pre-launch hiccup. A hydraulic issue scrubbed a 3/12/2025 attempt, but engineers fixed it, enabling the 3/14/2025 liftoff. The Falcon 9 booster landed on the droneship Just Read the Instructions, reinforcing SpaceX’s reusable rocket prowess.

Social media lit up as Endurance docked. “Crew-10 arrives at 12:04 a.m. EDT to relieve the Starliner crew—Suni and Butch are finally coming home!” one X user posted. Another cheered, “That origami crane at 1:35 a.m. EDT? Perfect touch for a perfect mission.”

Over the next six months, Crew-10 will conduct research, including flammability tests and physiological studies, while Freedom prepares for its 3/19/2025 departure. For Williams and Wilmore, relief is tangible—after a marathon mission born of Starliner’s setbacks, SpaceX’s arrival at 12:04 a.m. EDT marks their ticket home.