NASA has just announced that SpaceX, Elon Musk of TSLA’s company, will bring back the stranded BA astronauts from the International Space Station using their Dragon capsule

Two NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station in June aboard Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule will now return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle early next year, NASA officials announced Saturday. They deemed the issues with Starliner's propulsion system too risky for its first crewed return as originally planned.

Veteran NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, both former military test pilots, were the first crew to ride Starliner on June 5, when they launched to the ISS for what was expected to be an eight-day test mission.

However, Starliner’s propulsion system experienced several malfunctions within the first 24 hours of its journey to the ISS, leaving the astronauts stationed for 79 days as Boeing worked to address the issues.

NASA officials reassured reporters during a press conference in Houston that Wilmore and Williams are safe and prepared for an extended stay. During this extra time, they will assist with scientific experiments alongside the station’s seven other astronauts, NASA stated.

In an unusual shift in NASA’s astronaut operations, Wilmore and Williams are now expected to return to Earth in February 2025 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft set to launch next month for a routine astronaut rotation mission. Two of the Crew Dragon’s four seats will be left empty for the astronauts.

NASA’s decision to rely on Boeing’s main competitor to bring the astronauts home marks one of the agency’s most significant moves in years. Boeing had aimed for its Starliner test mission to redeem the program, which has faced years of technical issues and more than $1.6 billion in budget overruns since 2016.

During the flight, five of Starliner’s 28 thrusters failed, and the spacecraft experienced multiple helium leaks, which pressurize the thrusters. Despite these issues, Starliner managed to dock with the ISS, a massive orbital laboratory that has hosted rotating astronaut crews for over two decades.

NASA announced that Starliner will undock from the ISS without a crew in "early September." It will attempt to return to Earth autonomously, skipping a key test objective of having astronauts onboard to oversee the return trip.

“I know this is not the decision we had hoped for, but we stand ready to take the necessary steps to support NASA’s decision,” Boeing’s Starliner chief Mark Nappi told employees in an email.