SpaceX has launched a rocket carrying a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a plan to bring astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams home. The pair were due to be on the ISS for only eight days,

A new crew is officially on their way to the International Space Station, which means fellow astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — who have been in space for nine months now — are officially one step closer to finally coming home.

Reaching orbit from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the newest crew includes NASA’s Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, both military pilots; and Japan’s Takuya Onishi and Russia’s Kirill Peskov, both former airline pilots. They will spend the next six months at the space station, considered the normal stint, after springing Wilmore and Williams free.