Soyuz-U carrier rocket with Progress M-26M cargo spaceship launched from Baikonur

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM - The Soyuz-U carrier rocket with Russia's Progress M-26M cargo spacecraft was blasted off on Tuesday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station (ISS), the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) press service told TASS.

"The rocket's liftoff passed normally, on schedule. The cargo spaceship's separation from the third stage of the carrier rocket is to take place 9 minutes after the blast-off," Roscosmos said.

The Progress spacecraft is to dock to the ISS six hours after the launch - at 19:59 pm, Moscow time, Tuesday, Kazinform refers to Itar-tass.com.