SpaceX flight to retrieve stranded US astronauts called off over launch pad problems

SpaceX on Wednesday scrubbed the expected launch of a replacement crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station that would have set in motion the long-awaited homecoming of US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck in space for nine months after a trip on Boeing’s faulty Starliner.

SpaceX called off the flight over a last-minute technical issue with the rocket’s launch pad, officials said on a live stream of the launch countdown.

It was not immediately clear when the next launch opportunity would be. The reason for the scrub suggests that SpaceX and Nasa could try to launch again in the coming days.

Nasa had been set to launch a SpaceX rocket from Florida carrying a replacement crew for the International Space Station in a mission that would set up the return to Earth of Wilmore and Williams.

The American space agency had moved up the mission by two weeks after US President Donald Trump and his adviser Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, called for Wilmore and Williams to be brought back earlier than Nasa had planned.

A planned eight-day stay on the orbiting station has dragged on for Wilmore and Williams, a pair of veteran astronauts and US Navy test pilots. Starliner returned to Earth without them last year.