How Much Will Sunita Williams Earn For 9 Months In Space? Payout Explained

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who embarked on what was initially an eight-day mission, have now spent over nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) due to unforeseen technical issues. Their much-delayed return to Earth is now scheduled for no earlier than March 19, with a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft set to bring them back.  

Will Sunita Williams Be Paid More For Extended Space Stay? 

The prolonged stay of the astronauts has sparked discussions about their remuneration. According to retired NASA astronaut Cady Coleman, there is no special overtime pay for astronauts. As federal employees, they continue to receive their regular salaries, while NASA covers their food and living expenses on the ISS.  

Coleman told Washingtonian, “There is some small amount of money per day for incidentals that they end up being legally obligated to pay you”. Drawing from her own experience during a 159-day mission in 2010-11, she stated that it was around $4 a day, so she received a total of $636 (over Rs 55,000) in extra pay.  

Applying the same calculation, Williams and Wilmore—who have spent over 287 days in space—are expected to receive just $1,148 (around Rs 1 lakh) each in additional pay.  

Sunita Williams’s Likely Compensation

NASA astronauts’ salaries are determined by the U.S. government’s General Schedule (GS) pay scale, typically ranging from GS-12 to GS-15, based on experience and qualifications. For the year 2025, the GS-15 pay scale is as follows:

– GS-15 Step 1: $125,133 per year
– GS-15 Step 10: $162,672 per year

Sunita Williams, a seasoned astronaut with extensive mission experience, is classified under the GS-15 pay grade, the highest level for federal employees. According to available data, Williams and Wilmore’s annual base salary falls between $125,133 and $162,672 (approximately Rs 1.08 crore – Rs 1.41 crore).  

For their extended nine-month stay on the ISS, their prorated salaries will range between $93,850 and $122,004 (approximately Rs 81 lakh – Rs 1.05 crore). Factoring in their incidental pay of $1,148, their total earnings for the mission are expected to be between $94,998 and $123,152 (approximately Rs 82 lakh – Rs 1.06 crore), NDTV reported.  

Sunita Williams’s Return Mission Underway  

Williams and Wilmore, who were part of NASA’s Boeing Starliner test flight, faced multiple delays in their return due to technical malfunctions in their spacecraft. To facilitate their return, NASA recently approved a relief mission, and a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft was successfully launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:03 pm ET on Friday (4:33 am IST). The Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS around 10 am.  

The NASA SpaceX Crew-10 mission has now arrived at the ISS, bringing four new crew members: NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov.  

The prolonged stay of Williams and Wilmore has also led to political controversy. Last week, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, claiming that the astronauts had been “virtually abandoned in space by the Biden Administration”. He further stated that he had asked Elon Musk, via SpaceX, to bring them back.  

However, the US President’s remarks have been questioned, with reports noting that NASA had been actively working on plans for the astronauts’ return, and the agency has repeatedly emphasised that they have remained engaged in their scientific and operational duties aboard the ISS.

Amid the prolonged delay, NASA has contended that the astronauts are not technically “stranded”, as they are actively working on the ISS.