The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday’s arrival of a SpaceX capsule.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying astronaut Nick Hague (NASA) and Alexander Gorbunov (Roscosmos) to the International Space Station. Photo: Manuel Mazzanti/NurPhoto via Getty Images

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov boarded the ISS shortly after the Dragon capsule docked at the station at 2130 GMT, NASA said in a post on X. The SpaceX Crew-9 mission was supposed to transport four astronauts to the ISS until two empty seats had to be opened up for Wilmore and Williams after the Boeing Starliner capsule they arrived on in June was deemed unfit to return them to Earth.

The SpaceX capsule will eventually bring home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the NASA astronauts who piloted the Boeing Starliner test flight.

The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday’s arrival of a SpaceX capsule. SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with a downsized crew of two astronauts and two empty seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams,

SpaceX crew arrived at the ISS to bring two stuck astronauts home. The crew will return to earth in February after a five-month mission.

The Dragon capsule has two empty seats for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were only meant to be on the ISS for eight days, but were forced to remain there because of a fault discovered during the flight.

SpaceX launched the rescue mission on Saturday with two seats reserved for Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who will return to Earth in 2025.