Carrying more than three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the International Space Station crew, the unpiloted Russian cargo craft launched at 12:58 a.m. EST (11:58 a.m. local time in Baikonur) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Less than 10 minutes after launch, the resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned. The Russian cargo craft will make 34 orbits of Earth during the next two days before docking to the orbiting laboratory at 3:34 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24.
