Russia’s Soyuz-2.1a rocket has launched the Progress МS-08 cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan.

Around 8min and 48s after liftoff, the first three stages of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket have taken the spacecraft into low-orbit.

Telemetry data of the flight have revealed that the Progress МS-08 inserted into low-Earth orbit and got separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle as planned.

Deployment of all antennas and solar array panels was also detected immediately after the separation.

“The systems and assemblies of the Progress МS-08 are currently operating normally.”

According to Roscosmos, the systems and assemblies of the Progress МS-08 are currently operating normally.

The spacecraft is loaded with more than 3t of food, fuel and supplies for the ISS crew members and is scheduled to automatically dock to the ISS module Zvezda on 15 February.

Russian cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shkaplerov, as well as on-ground ISS segment flight control group specialists in Korolev Mission Control Centre, will perform the docking of Progress МS-08.

At the time of the launch, the ISS was flying over the south Atlantic north of the Falkland Islands at an altitude of 252 miles.

The spacecraft is set to remain at ISS until late August this year.

Earlier this month, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle successfully lifted off from VOSTOCHNY Cosmodrome.

The launch was aimed at delivering smallsats and two Earth observation Kanopus-V satellites, namely No.3 and No.4, which were carried under the federal and commercial contracts of Glavkosmos to their target orbits.