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.

Two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday welcomed the SpaceX capsule that will shuttle them home from a longer-than-anticipated mission. The big picture: NASA astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams had to extend their stay by months after technical issues prevented them from returning home aboard the Boeing Starliner craft that brought them there.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule, which is due to bring home stuck astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams next year, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, according to NASA and SpaceX.

SpaceX launched a two-person crew to the International Space Station, the start of a mission to bring home two NASA astronauts stuck in orbit after flying on Boeing Co.’s Starliner spacecraft.

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 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.

Two astronauts relinquished their seats on a four-person spacecraft so that their colleagues could return to Earth from the ISS, where they’ve been stuck since June.