two NASA astronauts who have been stuck in space for over two months will return to Earth in February 2025 with SpaceX NASA said the Boeing Starliner spacecraft the astronauts sonita Williams and Barry Wilmore had traveled to International Space Station ISS onward return to Earth uncrewed the pair took off on what was planned to be an 8-day mission on 5 June but will now spend around 8 months in orbit the carer experienced problems on its way to the ISS including leaks of helium which pushes fuel into the propulsion system several thrusters also did not work properly Boeing and SpaceX were both awarded billion dooll contracts by NASA to provide commercial space flights for its astronauts Boeing was worth 4.2 BN 318 BN while SpaceX which was founded by billionaire Elon Musk got 2.6 BN SpaceX has so far sent nine crude flights to space for NASA as well as some commercial missions but this was Boeing's first attempt at a crude Mission engineers at Boeing and NASA have spent months trying to understand the technical issues with the Starliner craft they have been carrying out tests and Gathering data both in space and back on the earth their Hope was to pin down the root of the problems and find a way to return the astronauts home safely on Starliner speaking at a press conference on Saturday NASA administrator Bill Nelson said Boeing has been working closely with NASA to understand what improvements need to be made to the spacecraft spaceflight is a risk even at its safest and even at its most routine and a test flight by nature is neither safe nor routine he said our core value is safety and it is our North Star the decision has been made to extend the pairs stay on the ISS until February 2025 so they can return on a SpaceX crew Dragon spacecraft the extra time allows SpaceX to launch its next vehicle with liftoff scheduled for the end of September it was supposed to have four astronauts on board but will instead travel to the space station with two this leaves room for Mr Wilmore and Miss Williams to join them in the vehicle to return to Earth at the end of its planned Mission next February NASA has said both as astronauts had previously completed two long duration stays in space and understood the risks of the test flight including being aboard the station longer than planned the organization said Mr Wilmore 61 and Miss Williams 58 both fully supported the plans for their return and would spend the next few months carrying out scientific work space maintenance and possibly doing some space walks Boeing Starliner had already been delayed for several years because of setbacks in the spacecraft's development previous uncrewed flights also suffered technical problems in a statement Boeing said it continued to focus on the safety of the crew and spacecraft we are executing the mission as determined by NASA and we are preparing for a safe and successful uncrewed return it added subscribe for more updates