SpaceX’s delay in getting its new Crew Dragon spacecraft to fly to the International Space Station has meant a longer stay on board for the pair of NASA astronauts that flew up on Boeing’s Starliner last summer but were left behind when it flew home without crew because of safety concerns.

Then along comes Musk, with one of the world's loudest microphones, shouting that NASA's astronauts are stranded and that President Trump wants them saved. It's a bombshell thing for the founder of SpaceX, who has become a close advisor to Trump, to say publicly.

The President has asked SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the ISS as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long.” The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the

NASA in December announced that SpaceX’s Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is now targeting no earlier than late March 2025 for its launch.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams have been stuck on the ISS since June 2024 after arriving on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft as part of the Crew Flight Test mission. NASA decided that they would come home on Dragon after " uncertainties " surrounding Starliner.

While Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s situation is unusual, their return trip will be pretty routine, as they were already slated to fly home on a SpaceX capsule as part of a scheduled crew rotation.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk chided the Biden administration for leaving two astronauts "stranded" on the International Space Station in a Tuesday X post—and said President Trump had requested that SpaceX bring Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore home as soon as possible.