Email SpaceX, the private company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, today launched a rescue mission with two passengers on board, leaving two seats empty to return the American astronauts who have been stranded for months on the International Space Station, NASA said. The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It used a new launch pad, the pad's first use for a crewed mission. On board are NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. "Congrats to @NASA and @SpaceX on a successful launch," NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a post on X. "We live in an exciting period of exploration and innovation in the stars." When they return from the space station in February, they will bring back the two space veterans -- Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams -- whose stay on the ISS was prolonged for months by problems with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft. The newly developed Starliner was making its first crewed flight when it delivered Wilmore and Williams to the ISS in June. The astronauts were supposed to be there for only an eight-day stay, but after problems with the Starliner's propulsion system emerged during the flight there, NASA was forced to weigh a radical change in plans.