The K.E. Tsiolkovsky spacecraft (MS-22) with a crew of three - Russia’s Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, who will become a third TASS special correspondent on the ISS, and NASA’s astronaut Francisco Rubio - has separated from the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket.

The flight to the ISS will follow a two-orbit pattern. The spacecraft is expected to dock at the Rassvet module (MIM-1) of the Russian segment of the ISS at approximately 20:11 Moscow time.

According to the plan, the space mission is to last 188 days - until March 28. Under the Russian program 49 scientific experiments are to be made. This is the first cross flight with the US.

The spacecraft will deliver about 120 kilograms of supplies, including on-board documentation, sanitary, hygiene and medical control items, research equipment, astronauts’ personal belongings TASS’s space mascot.