Astronauts stuck in space will return with SpaceX

Two Nasa astronauts who have been stuck in space for over two months will return to Earth in a SpaceX capsule.

The American space agency said Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore - who are on the International Space Station (ISS) - would not return to Earth until February 2025.

It said the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they went into space on would return to Earth un-crewed.

The pair took off on what was planned to be an eight-day mission on 5 June but will now spend around eight months in orbit.

The Starliner experienced problems on its way to the ISS.

There were leaks of helium, which pushes fuel into the propulsion system, and several of its thrusters did not work properly.

Since then, engineers at Boeing and Nasa have spent months trying to understand these technical issues.

Boeing and SpaceX were both awarded billion-dollar contracts by Nasa to provide commercial space flights for its astronauts. Boeing’s was worth $4.2bn (£3.18bn) while SpaceX got $2.6bn.

While SpaceX has already flown several crewed missions to the ISS, this was the first test flight for Boeing’s Starliner with astronauts on board.