KOROLYOV, Moscow Region. July 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The U.S. Discovery shuttle was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Canaveral space center, Florida, on Tuesday.
The launch was conducted as planned.
Nine minutes after the launch Discovery, carrying seven astronauts, reached the near-Earth orbit.
The Discovery shuttle is to dock with the ISS at 6:12 p.m. Moscow time (1412 hours GMT) on Thursday.
NASA official Sergei Puzanov told Interfax that the flight of the Discovery shuttle would last 12 days.
Astronauts will carry out at least two spacewalks.
The Russian Mission Control Center monitors the space flight along with the U.S. Houston Mission Control.
It is the first time a space shuttle has been launched on July 4, the Independence Day. The launch was postponed three times due to adverse weather conditions.
The shuttle crew comprises six NASA astronauts and German cosmonaut Thomas Reiter.
Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams have been working at the ISS since April.
Discovery is to take to the ISS German astronaut Thomas Reiter, who will stay at the station for about seven months as part of Expeditions 13 and 14.
The space flight is aimed at testing technological solutions, designed to increase flight safety. It is the second shuttle launch after a long break in space shuttle launches, following the crash of the Columbia shuttle on February 1, 2003. The first such launch took place a year ago.
The Discovery crew will conduct at least two six-hour spacewalks to mount equipment on the ISS. The shuttle will bring back part of the equipment, and results of scientific experiments, conducted at the ISS.
The Discovery crew comprises mission commander Steven Lindsey, and crewmembers Mark Kelly, Lisa Nowak, Michael Fossum, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers, and Thomas Reiter.
The Atlantis shuttle, expected to be launched on August 28, will start preparations after Discovery successfully lands.
Under the NASA program, U.S. Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor are to carry out 16 space flights by 2010. The space flights are aimed at completing the ISS construction and repairing the Hubble telescope.
There have been a total of 115 space shuttle launches so far. The Challenger shuttle crashed in 1986, and Columbia in 2003.