Because NASA rotates space station crews approximately every six months, this newly launched flight with two empty seats reserved for Wilmore and Williams won’t return until late February. Officials said there wasn’t a way to bring them back earlier on SpaceX without interrupting other scheduled missions.

NASA's Crew-9, carrying an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, lifted off into clouds at 1:17 p.m. EDT in the SpaceX Dragon Freedom from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40 on their way to a five-month mission at the International Space Station.

NASA and SpaceX cleared their Crew-9 astronaut flight to the International Space Station for launch, a Sept. 28 liftoff that will help return two Boeing Starliner astronauts home.