Russia Launches Space Cargo Ship To ISS

A Soyuz rocket takes astronauts to the ISS in April.

An unmanned Progress space freighter carrying supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched by Russia from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on October 14.

The Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying the ship successfully reached orbit eight minutes after taking off at 11:47 am Moscow time (10:47 Prague time), a Russian space agency commentator said in the live feed from mission control.

The launch was pushed back by two days from October 12 after an automatic shutoff one minute before liftoff. An investigating commission is still looking into the reasons for the delay.

The Progress MS-07 is carrying over two tons of various supplies including fuel and personal items for the international crew of six currently on board the ISS.

The cargo ship is expected to reach the space station on October 16 and will be automatically docked.

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

Based on reporting by AFP and TASS