Progress cargo ship safely en route to ISS

Update, 1:15 a.m. Friday:

A Russian spacecraft is safely on its way to the International Space Station with more than 3 tons of supplies that could alleviate a shortage caused by a string of failed cargo missions.

The unpiloted Progress freighter reached orbit nine minutes after a 12:55 a.m. EDT Friday blastoff atop a Soyuz-U booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"A flawless ride to orbit," reported NASA TV commentator Rob Navias.

The Progress 60 craft is due to dock at the space station at 3:13 a.m. Sunday.

Earlier:

Five days after SpaceX's failed launch of International Space Station cargo from Cape Canaveral, Russian space officials will take another turn trying to deliver needed supplies to the outpost.

A robotic Progress freighter hopes to ease the strain on "consumables" that has resulted from three unsuccessful resupply missions over the past eight months, including the most recent Progress in April, which spun out of control upon separating from its rocket in orbit.

NASA says the station crew is fine, but the outpost's four months of food is two months below preferred levels. The Progress would extend food reserves from October to November.

"Our Russian colleagues have loaded the Progress up with food and water and other crew provisions, and that's really very important to us as a collective," said Mike Suffredini, NASA's ISS program manager. "Overall, we're in very good shape on orbit."

Launch of the Progress carrying more than three tons of food, fuel and spare parts is scheduled for 12:55 a.m. Eastern time on Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Docking at the ISS would occur two days later.

In addition to restoring one of the station's critical cargo vehicles to service, a successful mission would clear the way for another three-person crew to launch July 22 in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, doubling the Expedition 44 crew to six people.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui had planned to launch in late May.

The launch was postponed by the loss of the last Progress, which shares some common components with their Soyuz spacecraft and launches on a similar rocket.

Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's human spaceflight programs, said the Soyuz-U rocket set to launch the Progress this time would use a different third stage than the last flight, an older version that has flown more often. The rocket and Progress rolled to their launch pad Wednesday.

If this next mission fails, it would further delay the next crew's launch and increase concerns about how to supply the station.

A Japanese cargo vehicle is scheduled to fly in August, and Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft by the end of the year — its first flight since an explosion just after liftoff last October in Virginia.

For now, said Gerstenmaier, "We have sufficient research, we have sufficient consumables on orbit that the crew is safe and things are fine."

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.

What's on the Progress:

•1,940 pounds of propellant

•106 pounds of oxygen

•926 pounds of water

•3,133 pounds of food, spare parts, logistical items and experiment hardware.

Source: NASA