NASA and SpaceX on Friday launched a long-awaited crew to the International Space Station that will let them bring home U.S. astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been stuck on the orbital lab for nine months.

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.S. Navy test pilots and were the first to fly Boeing's Starliner capsule to the ISS in June.