Sunita Williams, Barry Wilmore stranded in space as return to Earth delayed again

Two astronauts from the US space agency NASA currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have had their stay extended again, NASA said on Tuesday.

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS since June due to technical issues with their Starliner spacecraft. The pair had only planned to stay on the ISS for about a week.

NASA then expected their return in February 2025; however, the agency said there had been a delay in launching their replacements.

"NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 now is targeting no earlier than late March 2025 to launch four crew members to the International Space Station," the US space agency said in a statement. "The change gives NASA and SpaceX teams time to complete processing on a new Dragon spacecraft for the mission."

The Crew-9 mission, including Williams and Wilmore, would return following the arrival of Crew-10.