SpaceX Delays Crew-10 Flight to Replace NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams After Hydraulic Issue

SpaceX has delayed a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) due to a problem with the hydraulic system at the launch pad, impacting the planned replacement of NASA's two stranded astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. The issue arose less than four hours before the scheduled launch of the Falcon rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The delay means that Wilmore and Williams, who have been aboard the ISS for nine months since June, will have to wait longer before they can return to Earth. The new crew, designated as Crew-10 and consisting of four astronauts—NASA's Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan's Takuya Onishi, and Russia's Kirill Peskov—was set to take over their duties upon arrival at the space station. The astronauts, who are test pilots, were originally scheduled to return on Boeing's Starliner capsule, but due to technical issues encountered during its test flight, NASA decided to extend their stay and arrange for their return via SpaceX.