Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft blasts off from Baikonur

BAIKONUR. KAZINFORM A Soyuz-FG carrier rocket with a manned Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft has successfully blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station (ISS) at 17:12 Astana time.

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev (the Soyuz MS-09's commander), NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor and representative of the European Space Agency (ESA) Alexander Gerst lifted off for a half-year mission.