MOSCOW. Oct 28 (Interfax) - The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle (LV) carrying the Progress MS-18 resupply ship has lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to a Roscosmos live stream.
The rocket blasted off from Launch Pad No. 31 at 3:00 a.m. Moscow time, as planned. The Progress MS-18 separated from the upper stage of the Soyuz-2.1a at 3:09 a.m., heading to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Progress MS-18 will take 48 hours to reach the ISS and will dock at the station at 4:34 a.m. Moscow time on October 30.
Roscosmos said earlier that to honor the 800th anniversary of the founding of Nizhny Novgorod celebrated this year, the rocket is decorated with symbols of this event. Specifically, Khokhloma patterns decorate the side boosters of the rocket's first and upper stages.
According to Roscosmos, the Progress MS-18 is carrying about 1,490 kilograms of different equipment and materials, including resource equipment, equipment for extravehicular activity, medical control systems, sanitary and hygiene products, clothes, standard food rations and fresh food for Expedition 66 currently working on board the ISS, and kits for space experiments Matryoshka-R, Biomag-M, Aseptik, Struktura, and Fotobioreaktor.
The other supplies aboard the Progress MS-18 include 560 kilograms of fuel, 420 liters of drinking water in Rodnik system containers and 43 kilograms of compressed air in oxygen supply tanks.