Sputnik brings you a live broadcast from the Baikonur spaceport where the Soyuz MS-24 rocket is getting ready to be launched to carry two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) at 17:45 (Moscow time) on Friday.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub are expected to spend more than a year at the ISS, while their colleague, NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, will be staying at the ISS for six months.
After it is launched, the rocket is expected to follow an ultra-short flight route making only two loops around the Earth which will take about three hours.
*Follow Sputnik's live feed to find out more.