Three astronauts including two Russians and one American are expected to arrive on Tuesday at the International Space Station (ISS).
The trio of astronauts is expected to conduct around fifty scientific experiments there between now and next December.
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and one American took off Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, leased by Russia in Kazakhstan, to take this crew to the International Space Station (ISS).
According to a television broadcast by the Russian agency Roscosmos, the spacecraft, repainted in honor of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, took off at 10:47 a.m. local time (05:47 GMT) from the steppes of this vast Central Asian country.
A few minutes later, the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft entered orbit. It is scheduled to dock with the Russian segment of the ISS at 9:04 a.m. GMT (11:04 a.m. HB).
It is carrying a crew consisting of Russian cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritskyy, and NASA astronaut Jonny Kim.
They are expected to conduct fifty scientific experiments in space, according to Roscosmos, before their return to Earth on December 9.
According to Roscosmos, some 2,500 tourists, a record, attended the launch from Baikonur, which Russia has leased to Kazakhstan since the fall of the USSR for U$115 million annually, under a lease that runs until 2050.
Aerospace: A Key Area in Relations Between Moscow and Washington
Space is one of the last areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States, whose relations are at an all-time low due to the conflict in Ukraine, although the two countries have recently resumed talks under the leadership of US President Donald Trump.
As part of the sanctions against Russia, Western countries have ended their partnership with Roscosmos, but Soyuz spacecraft remain one of the only means of transporting crews to the ISS.