Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were welcomed with hugs and applause, after arriving at the International Space Station on board the American Boeing company’s Starliner capsule.

It was the first time the spacecraft, which came through a long and tortuous development programme, had been entrusted to carry people.

Mission managers told journalists that Starliner had experienced minor technical issues on the way, including a helium leak and some thruster failures.