President Donald Trump deputized tech billionaire and SpaceX owner Elon Musk to bring back two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station since June 2024.

Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have been stuck in space after their originally scheduled eight-day mission ended up with a malfunction in the Boeing Starliner during takeoff, forcing the spacecraft to return without the pair. NASA claimed their return was too risky.