Russia launches Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft into orbit

VLADIVOSTOK, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos announced that its Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was successfully launched into the planned orbit on Friday.

A Soyuz-2.1a rocket, carrying the MS-23 spacecraft, lifted off from the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan at 0324 Moscow time (0024 GMT). The spacecraft is flying in unmanned mode and will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in two days, ROSCOSMOS said on its official website.

MS-23 spacecraft will deliver to ISS 430 kg of cargo, including equipment for medical research, space station cleaning, air quality monitoring, scientific experiments, as well as food and other supplies.

MS-23 is expected to bring back to Earth three astronauts, who were sent to ISS by MS-22 in September 2022. However, MS-22 spacecraft was hit by a micrometeoroid in December, which caused a problem with its external radiator.