With less than an hour to go before liftoff, SpaceX postponed the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, US that was carrying a crew of four astronauts who would have replaced the so-called stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.
According to NASA and SpaceX, they have scrubbed today’s launch attempt of the agency’s Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station due to a hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Standing down from tonight’s launch opportunity of @NASA’s Crew-10 mission to the @Space_Station
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) March 12, 2025
There is another launch window on Thursday and Friday, and if SpaceX, the company owned by Elon Musk, can fix the problems they faced with the hydraulics of one of the arms, the Falcon 9 rocket could still be launched this week.
NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov have safely exited the Dragon spacecraft. The rocket is safe as well.
The SpaceX crew Dragon was to ferry back Astronaut Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore if all had gone well by March 19. NASA had factored a quicker turnaround time for the SpaceX Crew Dragon to minimise the use of consumables at the International Space Station.