Russia Wednesday launched a Progress cargo spaceship on a re-supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), an official said. A Soyuz-U carrier rocket carrying the Progress M-04M freighter lifted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan at 0345 GMT and is expected to dock at the ISS Feb 5, a spokesman for the Russian Mission Control said.

"The launch and the separation of the cargo spaceship from the carrier rocket were successful. The docking of the freighter with the ISS is expected at 0426 GMT Friday," the official said.

The digitally-controlled Progress craft will deliver over 2.5 tonnes of food and water supplies, fuel and scientific equipment to the orbital station, which is manned by an international crew comprising six astronauts from Russia, the US and Japan.

Progress-series freighters have been the backbone of the Russian space cargo fleet for decades. In addition to their main mission as cargo spacecraft, they are used to adjust the ISS orbit and conduct scientific experiments. Russia "buried" its last analog space freighter, the Progress M-67, in the southern Pacific last September.