A SpaceX rocket carrying two crew members lifted off from Florida early Saturday afternoon as part of NASA’s ninth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. It will bring back two astronauts in February who have been stranded in the space station since June. The mission, known as Crew-9, took off at 1:17 p.m. after attempts earlier this week were delayed due to the now-post tropical cyclone Helene. The Falcon 9 rocket propelled the Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov who are going on a five-month mission to the ISS. Notably, the spacecraft lifted off with two empty seats. Those are reserved for two NASA astronauts who have been stranded in space since early June. Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore arrived at the ISS on June 6 after lifting off in the Boeing Starliner from Cape Canaveral the previous day. They were expected to return to Earth a week later, but their plan was derailed after NASA and Boeing officials detected helium leaks and issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters as the Starliner approached the space station. Spacecraft separation confirmed! Dragon is now flying free. #Crew9 is scheduled to arrive at the @Space_Station on Sunday, Sept. 29 at 5:30pm ET (2130 UTC). Coverage begins on NASA+ at 3:30pm ET (1930 UTC). pic.twitter.com/nDX5HYLhYw — NASA (@NASA) September 28, 2024 Late last month, following weeks of testing and data analysis, NASA decided it would be too risky for the two experienced astronauts to return aboard the Starliner. That meant the Boeing-developed spacecraft returned home without its crew on Sept. 7 — and Williams and Willmore would have to wait a few more months for a ride back to Earth. They are now coming back on those two empty seats on the Dragon capsule — but not until February. “A crew change is not a small thing,” NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy said at a post-launch news conference when noting the reshuffling was “hard” for Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, the two astronauts who had to give up their seats. “But I think it’s a reflection of the fact that human space flight is complicated and dynamic, and we need to be agile and focus on the mission,” she said. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated “the entire team on a successful launch,” while noting the mission required “a lot of operational and planning flexibility.” “Our NASA wizards and our commercial and international partners have shown once again the success that comes from working together and adapting to changing circumstances without sacrificing the safe and professional operations of the International Space Station,” Nelson said. Hague, who is expected to dock at the ISS on Sunday at approximately 5:30 p.m. EST, was also happy with the successful launch. “It was a sweet ride,” he said on NASA’s livestream after taking off to space.