Russia and the US should continue cooperation in space research, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin twittered on Wednesday as he commented on the launch of the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft carrying a Russian-US crew to the International Space Station.

"The crew traveling aboard the Soyuz MS-08 includes the ship’s commander Oleg Artemyev and flight engineers Drew Feustel and Ricky Arnold," Rogozin said.

"These guys prove with their work the great powers can and must cooperate. Russian-US cooperation in space research should go on."

The Soyuz MS-08 launched from the Baikonur Space Center on the territory of Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Its docking to the ISS has been scheduled for 22:41 MSK Time on Friday.