Russia launches cargo ship to space station

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia yesterday launched an unmanned Progress space freighter carrying supplies to the International Space Station from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying the ship successfully reached orbit eight minutes after taking off at 11:47 a.m. Moscow time (0847 GMT), a Russian space agency commentator said in the live feed from mission control.

The event was pushed back by two days from Oct. 12 after an automatic shutoff of the launch one minute before liftoff, with a commission still figuring out the reasons.

The Progress MS-07 is carrying over two tons of various cargo including fuel, station supplies and personal items for the international crew of six currently in orbit.

The all-male crew includes Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Sergey Ryazansky as well as Italian Paolo Nespoli and Americans Joseph Acaba, Mark Vande Hei and commander Randolph Bresnik.

The cargo ship is expected to reach the space station tomorrow at 1109 GMT and will be automatically docked.

Cargo ships will later be filled with trash before they are undocked and burn up in the atmosphere as they orbit back to Earth.