A Russian rocket launched from a space center in Kazakhstan, transporting three persons, a NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The spacecraft, Soyuz carried Tracy Caldwell Dyson from US and Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko from Russia into the clear skies from the Baikonur cosmodrome. The craft which attains the speed of 8,000 miles per hour will dock with the ISS on Sunday while orbiting 200 miles above Earth.

The head of the expedition, Skvortsov was seen smiling when the craft reached zero gravity and a toy duck began floating touching his head. Skvortsov's message saying "The vehicle is performing fine," reached amid long communications disruptions.

The three will join Russian, American and Japanese crew on the ISS. Their mission will end by September when the US sends its last flight from the Kennedy Space Center.

Before the launch, Caldwell Dyson in a final statement before eth launch said in Russian "As our captain said, we are ready."

Meanwhile, a space shuttle from the US is scheduled to be launched next week, the shuttle will add heavy research equipment to the ISS in a mission which will last for 13 days.