High Wind Delays SpaceX Crew Homecoming After 6 Months Aloft

(L-R) European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide leave the Operation and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 23, 2021. John Raoux/AP Photo

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—High wind off the Florida coast has prompted SpaceX to delay the return of four space station astronauts in orbit since spring.

The U.S., French and Japanese astronauts were supposed to leave the International Space Station on Sunday, with their capsule splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday morning. But with gusts exceeding safety limits, SpaceX bumped the departure to Monday afternoon, with a nighttime return to conclude their six-month mission.