SpaceX Crew-10 return begins as five astronauts depart the ISS after nearly five months in orbit. The 17-hour descent will end with a splashdown off California

SpaceX Crew-10 return is officially underway as five astronauts began their descent from the International Space Station on Friday after nearly five months in orbit.

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The team—US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan’s Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov—will spend more than 17 hours inside the Dragon capsule before splashing down off California’s coast at 1533 GMT on Saturday.

The mission marks the 10th crew rotation under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, designed to replace the Space Shuttle era by partnering with private companies.

Their stay aboard the ISS included key experiments on plant growth and cellular reactions to gravity. This mission also followed a high-profile rescue last year, when Boeing’s Starliner left two astronauts stranded in space for months due to propulsion issues.

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Upon splashdown, SpaceX recovery teams will retrieve the capsule, bringing Crew-10 back to Earth’s atmosphere and fresh air for the first time in months.