BAIKONUR. Sept 11 (Interfax) - The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with Soyuz MS-26 transport manned ship lifted off from Baikonur on Wednesday, an Interfax correspondent reported from the cosmodrome.
The rocket launched at 7:23 p.m. Moscow time from Baikonur Launch Site No. 31. The ship is carrying a crew of Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexei Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner and NASA astronaut Donald Pettit.
The Soyuz MS-26 is due to dock to the Rassvet small research module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) at 10:33 p.m. Moscow time.