UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi’s return to Earth has been delayed by a day to help Nasa and SpaceX adjust their flight schedule on the International Space Station.

Dr Al Neyadi and his three Crew-6 colleagues will depart on Saturday, instead of Friday as initially planned.

The trip home aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule will take 24 hours, with a splashdown off the coast of Florida on Sunday, September 3.

Their replacement crew, Crew-7, had their launch pushed back by a day, causing the schedule to be changed.

“Another crew is set to return to Earth this weekend after beginning its space station mission in March,” Nasa said.

“Nasa astronaut Stephen Bowen, commander of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft, will lead Nasa Pilot Woody Hoburg and mission specialists Al Neyadi and Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos when they end their mission as Expedition 69 flight engineers.

“The quartet is scheduled to undock Endeavour no earlier than Saturday, September 2, and splashdown off the coast of Florida.”