BAIKONUR (Sputnik) – Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins and Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi are expected to dock at the ISS within 48 hours after the launch, which is scheduled for 12:26 a.m. Moscow time (21:26 GMT on July 6).
The astronauts will be delivered to the ISS by manned modernized Soyuz-MS spacecraft manufactured by the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. The spacecraft is equipped with the advanced navigation and motion control systems, as well as improved power supply system.
Russian space agency Roscosmos reported earlier that the launch of Soyuz-MS had been postponed from June 24 to July 7 in order to carry out additional testing of the software.