Moscow, Mar 24 (AP) Three astronauts who were supposed to leave the International Space Station this month will be brought back to Earth in late September, doubling their time aboard the orbiting laboratory to more than a year, Russia's space agency announced Friday.

The return of Russians Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and NASA's Frank Rubio was delayed after the Soyuz capsule they planned to ride in developed a coolant leak while docked to the space station.

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An empty Soyuz was sent to the station in late February to serve as a rescue capsule.

The three-person replacement crew that was originally scheduled to be aboard that capsule is now set to head for the space station on Sept. 15, the Roscosmos space agency said.

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Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio are to return on Sept. 27; they launched into space on Sept. 21, 2022. (AP)

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