SpaceX Steps In To Rescue Stranded NASA Astronauts At ISS Due To Boeing Starliner Issues: Elon Musk's Company Sends Half-Empty Crew Dragon To Bring Butch Wilmore And Suni Williams Home

SpaceX on Saturday launched a half-filled Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit. The mission was to rescue two astronauts who had been left stranded in space.

What Happened: Under normal circumstances, the Crew Dragon is designed to transport four astronauts at a time. However, this mission was unique as it only carried two passengers. The reason behind this was a significant safety issue with Boeing’s BA Starliner ship, reported Business Insider.

In June, astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had the honor of being the first to fly aboard the Starliner. However, as the ship approached the International Space Station (ISS), its thrusters malfunctioned. Despite managing to dock successfully after some troubleshooting, both NASA and Boeing were left unsure about the reliability of the thrusters for the return journey.

After conducting thorough testing and reviews, NASA decided not to gamble with the astronauts’ lives by using the Starliner again. This decision threw a wrench in NASA’s human spaceflight schedule as the Starliner was sent back to Earth without its crew.

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Wilmore and Williams will now be coming back to Earth aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon that was launched on Saturday. Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov will join them on the ISS for a mission that will last several months, with a return home scheduled for February at the earliest.

Both SpaceX and Boeing developed their spaceships as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. However, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which cost $2.6 billion, was significantly cheaper and faster than Boeing’s Starliner, which received $4.2 billion from NASA. Despite facing technical issues and delays, Boeing has had to bear all additional expenses due to its fixed-price contract with NASA, resulting in a loss of about $1.6 billion on Starliner.

Why It Matters: Elon Musk‘s SpaceX has been making significant strides in the space industry, with plans to ramp up operations and execute missions every two days in 2025. Musk has also been vocal about his intention to colonize Mars using SpaceX's newest giant rocket, Starship.

This came after Musk took a dig at Boeing, saying aircraft companies would not dominate the space industry, similar to how car makers cannot dominate the aircraft business.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.