‘Victory Rocket’ blasts off from Baikonur spaceport

Russia’s Soyuz-2.1a rocket with the Soyuz MS-27 spaceship carrying the three members of the 73rd long-duration expedition to the International Space Station has blasted off from Site 31 of the Baikonur spaceport.

The Soyuz MS-27 manned spacecraft, using the Soyuz 2.1a "Victory Rocket," dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, will deliver the crew of the 73rd long-term space expedition to the International Space Station.

The crew includes Russian cosmonauts Alexey Zubritsky and Sergey Ryzhikov, as well as NASA astronaut Jonny Kim, Sputnik Kazakhstan reported.

The spacecraft is expected to dock with the Prichal module of the Russian segment of the ISS at about 12:04 p.m. Moscow time (9:04 a.m. GMT).

The crew is expected to carry out 50 scientific experiments; in addition, they will perform two spacewalks in October.