BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — SpaceX founder Elon Musk said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had asked him to return the two NASA astronauts who have been on the International Space Station since June "as soon as possible."

Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were launched to the International Space Station aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft in June 2024. The flight was intended to last only 10 days and would have certified Starliner to ferry NASA astronauts to and from the space station.

But thruster issues that appeared while docking to the space station sparked concern and after delaying the return for months to study the problem, NASA decided to return the spacecraft without the crew. Starliner landed with no crew onboard back in September.

A return mission for Williams and Wilmore using a SpaceX Dragon craft was initially planned for February but was then moved to at least late March.

"The @POTUS has asked @SpaceX to bring home the 2 astronauts stranded on the @Space_Station as soon as possible. We will do so. Terrible that the Biden administration left them there so long," Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Musk owns the social media website, is the CEO of SpaceX, and serves as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency under Trump.

Trump confirmed the request hours later on a Truth Social post, saying "I have just asked Elon Musk and @SpaceX to 'go get' the 2 brave astronauts who have been virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration."

"They have been waiting for many months on Space Station," the post added. "Elon will soon be on his way. Hopefully, all will be safe. Good luck Elon!!!!"

Space shuttle Challenger exploded 39 years ago today

The two astronauts were slotted into NASA's Crew-9, with NASA removing two of the four crew members who had been set to launch on the SpaceX Dragon in September. Instead, only an astronaut and cosmonaut launched aboard that Crew-9 flight to make room for Williams and Wilmore to return home with them at the end of the expedition in February of 2025.

But there was another delay in December − and this time it was on SpaceX.

According to NASA, SpaceX needed more time to work on the latest Dragon spacecraft, which will be debuting with the launch of Crew-10. That meant Crew-9, including the two Boeing astronauts, would not be back home until late March at the earliest after Crew-10 arrived at the space station. Typically one NASA crew stays on the space station until another arrives.

"Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail," Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said during a news briefing last month.

NASA has continuously stated the astronauts are not stranded, are healthy, and are in good spirits. Astronauts have also stayed onboard the space station for over a year with no adverse health impacts.

Both Boeing and SpaceX were contracted by NASA to develop spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station as part of the Commercial Crew Program. Boeing received a $4.82 billion contract for Starliner compared to SpaceX's $3.14 billion contract for their Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX has completed nine NASA crewed flights while Boeing has yet to complete one.

Musk gave no further details following the Tuesday post. It is possible the Starliner duo will still return on the Crew-9 Dragon, and he was referring to finalizing the new Dragon earlier than anticipated.

But if Musk was referring to something else, for example, should Crew-9 return early before the launch of Crew-10, this would leave Don Pettit as the only NASA astronaut onboard the space station. He launched back in September aboard a Russian Soyuz as part of NASA's relationship with Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency.

SpaceX does have other Dragon spacecraft it could presumably launch with the express purpose of bringing the two NASA astronauts home, yet no further details were provided.

As of now, it remains unclear as to what Trump's statement meant. No further details were provided.

NASA did not immediately respond to FLORIDA TODAY's, part of the USA TODAY Network, request for comment on Tuesday

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Elon Musk: Trump asks SpaceX to return Starliner astronauts home