Washington, 19 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Two US astronauts have returned to Earth after being stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for more than nine months due to a technical fault with their spacecraft.

The two astronauts, Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore, left the ISS on board a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft early on Tuesday, with live footage from US space agency NASA showing their departure.

Accompanied by US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexandr Gorbunov, they splashed down off Florida's coast following a 17-hour decent.

Williams and Wilmore arrived at the ISS at the beginning of June on the first manned test flight of Boeing's Starliner spacecraft.

They were only meant to stay in space for a week, but numerous technical problems with the craft left them stranded.

In September, Hague and Gorbunov flew to the space station aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon, leaving vacant seats for Williams and Wilmore.

Williams, 59, and Wilmore, 62, had previously been in space several times and are considered experienced astronauts.

Photo: EPA