SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 7:03 p.m. ET (2303 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying four astronauts who will replace Wilmore and Williams, both of whom are veteran NASA astronauts and retired U.

Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams need SpaceX to get this relief team to the space station before they can check out.

SpaceX aims to launch Crew-10 on Friday. The crew-swap mission will enable NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to return home from the International Space Station.