KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Despite an issue with a hydraulic system during the first launch attempt, NASA and SpaceX were able to send up the Crew-10 on Friday night.

This is the next step to bringing the Starliner crew home.

Countdown to launch

NASA astronauts Cmdr. Anne McClain and pilot Nichole Ayers, mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov climbed onboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule called the Endurance, stated both NASA and SpaceX.

The instantaneous launch happened at 7:03 p.m. ET at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The roar of the powerful Merlin engines was not just heard but felt in many people’s chest as it pierced the sky before sunset.

Many people, including children, were heard cheering the four on as they road the Endurance.

In fact, according to NASA, this is the 200th launch from Launch Complex 39A.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave about a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions with no primary concerns for the launch.

All went smoothly for the Friday night launch, unlike on Wednesday when an issue forced NASA and SpaceX to scrub the launch.

A few hours before launch, officials said a problem with a hydraulic system that feeds into one of the clamp arms on the transporter erector, which holds down the rocket before liftoff.

If there was a scrub, the next attempt would have been set for Saturday night.

Speeding into the black

NASA's Public Affairs specialist Steven Siceloff gave a recap of what the Crew-10 mission will be like during the first launch attempt on Wednesday.

This is the first crewed launch of 2025 and the Endurance was screaming at 17,500 mph (28,164 kph) as it went into the black.

The Endurance has flown the previous NASA missions:

• Crew-3 in 2021
• Crew-5 in 2022
• Crew-7 in 2023

The Falcon 9 first-stage booster for this mission, B1090, is still very new and this is its second launch.

Its first launch was the O3b mPOWER 7 & 8 mission.

Since the Crew-10 mission will have four people onboard, the first-stage booster will land on Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The thunderous crack of a sonic boom as B1090 was coming in for a landing was heard from many surrounding counties.

The Crew-10 foursome should dock with the space station at around 11:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. And they will stay there until July 2025.

About the Crew-10 mission and the crew

Crew-10 members will be busy little beavers as they conduct more than 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations.

Some of them include:

• Research to prepare for human exploration beyond low Earth-orbit and benefit humanity on Earth
  
  
• Material flammability tests for future spacecraft designs
  
  
• Engage with students via ham radio and use its existing hardware to test a backup lunar navigation solution
  
  
• Participate in an integrated study to better understand physiological and psychological changes to the human body to provide valuable insights for future deep space missions

Two out of the four crew members are old pros who have been to space before, but for Ayers and Peskov, this will be their first time.

Pilot Nichole Ayers

Cmdr. Anne McClain

Mission specialist JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi

For Onishi, this is not his first mission.

"For this long-term stay on the ISS, Takuya will be appointed as the third Japanese ISS Commander, following Astronaut Koichi Wakata and Akihiko Hoshide. I expect that, in orbit, he will bring out the strengths of the team members and build the best team possible to ensure mission success," stated Hisadome Yasushi, the director of Astronaut Operations and Technology Unit Human Space Flight Technology Directorate at JAXA.

After Onishi's first mission in 2016, he discovered the importance of working along with the ground team and this instilled in him a desire to learn more about their job, stated Yasushi in an email to Spectrum News. Eventually, Onishi became a flight director.

"Since then, he has been supporting experiments in orbit from the ground as a flight director, using his perspective as an astronaut. Also, he visited the PIs (Principal Investigators) of the experiments that he was scheduled to be in charge of. He will be launched into space with the hopes of researchers there. And, he also had completed a wide range of trainings as a commander. I believe that he will provide great leadership in ISS safety and mission achieving," Yasushi shared.

Mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov

The Crew-10 members will be onboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 72. An expedition means the current crew in the International Space Station.

The Crew-9 and Crew-10 crews will be together for a few days before the Crew-9’s Freedom Dragon capsule will undock from the International Space Station’s Harmony module no earlier than Wednesday, March 19.

The Crew-9 will splashdown off the coast of Florida. During the first launch attempt, Siceloff shared a bit more about what goes into deciding how a splashdown will happen for the Crew-9.

Helping Starliner to get home

For Crew-9 members, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov will come home with Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Cmdr. Barry "Butch" Wilmore and pilot Sunita "Suni" Williams.

NASA astronauts Wilmore and Williams were expected to spend about eight days on the International Space Station in June during the maiden flight of Boeing’s Starliner capsule.

However, before, during and after its launch, the Starliner experienced prolonged problems such as helium leaks and thruster issues.

Scroll down to see the timeline of the Starliner saga.

The stay on the floating space laboratory morphed into a 9-month-long stay with their ride — named Calypso — returning home empty earlier in September after NASA deemed it unsafe.

Siceloff said that while Wilmore and Williams were on the space station longer than expected, they did not break any NASA records. That honor belongs to NASA astronaut Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days in space during his International Space Station mission in 2022 to 2023.

President Donald Trump stated he asked SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — who is heading the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, or better known as DOGE — to bring the pair home earlier.

In the media, Williams and Wilmore were stated to be “stranded” on the space station, even though they were always a way home for them.

It was Spectrum News that confirmed with NASA that it was considering another option of bringing home Wilmore and Williams — SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.

Both the Boeing Starliner and Crew-10 missions are part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which was formed to work with American aerospace companies to build spacecraft and rockets to send technology and astronauts from U.S. soil to space.

Starliner timeline

Watch the launch