The NASA manned mission destined to bring back to Earth the two American Astronauts who have been stranded there since last June has departed for the International Space Station.

The Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX was launched shortly after 7 p.m. Friday (local time, 01:00 am Saturday morning in Greece) from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, carrying four astronauts.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the International Space Station in June, aboard a Boeing Starliner. They were supposed to stay there for eight days, but technical problems forced the US space agency to change its plans.

NASA originally announced in August that SpaceX, a competitor to Boeing, would take over the duo’s return to Earth in February. But the operation was postponed until March by the Biden administration for political reasons as Elon Musk had come forward as a Trump supporter.

SpaceX chief executive Ilon Musk, had said the US president Donald Trump had asked his company to make sure the two astronauts returned “as soon as possible”.

SpaceX has been running missions for six months that will allow for crew rotation on the International Space Station.