SpaceX Rocket Launch to Space Station Delayed, Astronaut Sunita Williams Return Postponed

Florida: SpaceX has postponed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket just minutes before its scheduled liftoff from Florida. The rocket was meant to carry four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) to replace current NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who are currently on board.

According to NASA and SpaceX, the launch of the Crew-10 mission was stopped due to a problem with the hydraulic system of a ground support arm. This arm is part of the launch equipment at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

NASA is now aiming to launch the mission no earlier than 7:03 pm Eastern Daylight Time (4:33 am Indian Standard Time) on Friday, March 14th. NASA explained that they decided to postpone Thursday’s launch attempt because of expected bad weather, including strong winds and rain, along the rocket’s flight path.

The four astronauts who were set to launch – NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov – have safely left the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Both the spacecraft and the rocket are reported to be in a safe condition.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was intended to bring back Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore from the ISS by March 19th, if the launch had happened as planned. NASA had planned for a quick turnaround of the Dragon spacecraft to reduce the amount of supplies used at the International Space Station.