The general assembly of the rocket with the spacecraft was completed on Friday. Early on Sunday morning, it was transported from the assembly and test building and delivered by rail to the launch pad No. 31. Subsequently, the Soyuz-2.1a rocket was brought into a vertical position with the help of the installation platform and placed on the launch pad.
The state commission is expected to decide on the rocket's readiness for fueling and grant permission for the launch on the morning of the launch day, September 11.
The main crew of the spacecraft includes Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, as well as American astronaut Donald Pettit. The backup crew comprises Russians Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, along with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. The mission duration on the ISS is set to last 202 days.