Russian, America, Japanese blast off from Kazakhstan for International Space

A Russian spacecraft soared toward the global Space Station with three astronauts after a successful launch that contrasted with fiery failures by two for-profit USA operators.

The Soyuz-FG booster rocket with the space capsule Soyuz TMA-14M launched to the worldwide Space Station from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, in Kazakhstan, early Thursday, July 23, 2015.

It was a textbook launch, with Kononenko declaring everything “nominal”, meaning normal, about 20 minutes after liftoff.

The trio will spend the next five months in space. The launch also marks an important milestone for Russia’s Soyuz rocket, which botched a Progress spacecraft deployment in May.

The 16-storey rocket lifted off at 5.02pm (local time) to deliver veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and rookie astronauts Kjell Lindgren with NASA and Japan’s Kimiya Yui into orbit.

Scientists and space enthusiasts around the world were watching the launch closely, and with some concern, since the mission had been delayed by two months because of a Russian rocket failure.

The Soyuz is beingcommaned by Kononenko.

A workhorse of space that dates back to the Cold War, the Soyuz is used for manned and unmanned flights. The crew members will remain aboard ISS until December.

Expedition 44 crew members are expected to be the first to harvest and eat crops grown aboard the station, another necessary advance for astronauts travelling on deep space missions.

They will conduct a number of scientific experiments including controlling robots remotely.

They join Gennady Padalka, Mikhail Kornienko and Scott Kelly. The Soyuz returned to flight on July 3, successfully launching a replacement load of cargo to the station.

“I hope that for the next 40 years we will also cooperate with Russian Federation closely”, he said. One of the astronauts on board is Kjell Lindgren, who has a strong aerospace medicine background, and has Minnesota ties.