Billionaire Elon Musk has congratulated SpaceX’s spacecraft on successfully bringing two American astronauts stranded for nine months on the International Space Station (ISS) back to Earth.

According to The Hill, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft on March 18 successfully brought two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, back to Earth after nine months of being stranded on the ISS.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s spacecraft then landed safely in the waters off the coast of Florida after a 17-hour flight. The astronauts were immediately brought ashore, then moved to NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas for a health check.

“Congratulations to the SpaceX and NASA teams for completing the flight safely. I would also like to thank President Donald Trump for prioritizing this rescue mission,” Musk wrote on social network X.

SpaceX’s spacecraft landed in the waters off the state of Florida. Video: SpaceX

According to The Hill, Mr. Wilmore and Ms. Williams are two astronauts who flew into space on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. The original purpose of the flight was only an eight-day test, but Starliner’s malfunctions prevented them from returning to Earth.

NASA finally decided to let Wilmore and Williams return to Earth on SpaceX’s spacecraft when they were scheduled to rotate personnel at the ISS, leaving them stranded in space for nine months.

On March 14, Crew Dragon sent a replacement crew to the ISS, then began its mission to bring Wilmore, Williams and two other astronauts back to Earth.