Russian Supply Ship Blasts Off To Space Station

An unmanned cargo ship is on its way to the International Space Station where the crew is anxiously awaiting supplies after two previous missions failed to deliver.

The Soyuz-U booster rocket blasted off without trouble from a launch pad in Kazakhstan.

The Progress M-28M ship was placed safely into a designated orbit, en route to the station.

It is due to dock with the Russian-manned station on Sunday where cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly are waiting.

The ship is carrying 2.4 metric tons of fuel, oxygen, water, food and other supplies for the crew.

The previous Progress launch in April ended in failure and a US supply mission attempt also went awry last Sunday when the rocket broke apart shortly after lift-off.

There was also a launch pad failure last October when another supply-carrying cargo failed at the launch pad.

NASA says the station is well stocked, with enough supplies for the crew to last at least until October.

However, the latest launch is essential for the station programme to ferry crews around.

The programme has relied exclusively on Russian spacecraft since the grounding of the US shuttle fleet.