By Christina Horsten

Washington DC - The two US astronauts who have been stuck on the International Space Station (ISS) since June might be getting an earlier flight home after all.

NASA announced it would repurpose an existing Dragon capsule instead of a new one to bring back Suni Williams and Barry Wilmore.

SpaceX's capsule could be available as early as mid-March – "if the mission is ready by then," the space agency clarified.

The launch date for Crew 10, consisting of US astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, as well as Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, is currently set for March 12.

A few days after the arrival of the relief crew at the ISS, Williams and Wilmore will be able to return to Earth together with their colleagues Nick Hague and Alexander Gorbunov.

The two stranded astronauts arrived via Boeing's Starliner at the beginning of June and were only supposed to stay for around a week.

Due to technical problems with the spacecraft, NASA decided to bring it back to Earth uncrewed in September, prolonging their trip for months.

Williams and Wilmore are veterans who have already been to space and on the ISS several times. NASA has repeatedly emphasized that the two are trained for all eventualities.