Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won’t return until late February. Officials said there wasn’t a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon space capsule, which is due to bring home stuck astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams next year, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, according to NASA and SpaceX.

NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 commander Nick Hague is pictured in his flight suit during training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Hague will

The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June are welcoming their new ride home CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station since June welcomed their new ride home with Sunday’s arrival of a SpaceX capsule.

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft caught up with the International Space Station and moved in for docking Sunday.

NASA and SpaceX will launch a two-person crew on a Dragon that will be the ride home for the Starliner astronauts stuck in space.

The SpaceX capsule will eventually bring home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the NASA astronauts who piloted the Boeing Starliner test flight.