U.S. launches new crewed mission to to bring home stranded astronauts

NASA and SpaceX launched a new crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, a critical step to bring home NASA astronauts who have been stranded in space since last June. 

The spacecraft took off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, according to NASA live broadcast. About two and half minutes later, SpaceX confirmed Falcon 9 first stage separation. 

The first stage booster has landed at Landing Zone 1 near the launch pad. The new mission, codenamed Crew-10, carries NASA astronauts, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut, and Roscosmos cosmonaut to ISS. Following the arrival of Crew-10 to the orbital laboratory, NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission, consisting of NASA astronauts and Roscosmos cosmonaut, will return to Earth.