After six months on board the International Space Station, four astronauts have returned to Earth.

The Dragon space capsule from the private space company SpaceX landed on Monday evening (local time) in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of the US state of Florida.

A ship stationed nearby was supposed to recover the space capsule, after which the astronauts were to be brought ashore by helicopter.

The French Thomas Pesquet, the US astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and the Japanese Akihiko Hoshide had spent six months on the ISS.

"Crew 2" left the space station before the planned arrival of the German astronaut Matthias Maurer and three other astronauts.

Two Russian cosmonauts and one US astronaut continue on the ISS

Their flight into space from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida had to be postponed several times and is now planned for Wednesday evening.

Until then, the ISS is not orphaned, but is still manned by two Russian cosmonauts and one US astronaut.

Pesquet spoke on Twitter of a "proud event" to have represented France in space.

“The moon next time?” Asked the 43-year-old astronaut.

After landing, he has to undergo some medical tests before returning to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne.

A number of other tests are planned there to check the consequences of a long stay in space on the human body.

According to NASA, the “Crew 3” around the German astronaut Maurer will take off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida on Wednesday evening (local time) at the earliest.

In addition to Maurer, the crew includes NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron.

These four astronauts will also live and work on the ISS for six months.

For the 51-year-old bricklayer, it is the first mission in space.

After Alexander Gerst, the Saarlander is the second German in the European astronaut corps and the first German astronaut to fly to the ISS on board a commercial SpaceX space capsule.

Overall, he is the twelfth German to travel into space.