According to RBC, the ship “Yu.A. Gagarin “was launched on a Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The ship headed for the International Space Station (ISS). Docking should take place at 14:07 Moscow time.

In the ship “Yu.A. Gagarin ”there are cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hai.

Recall, April 12 will mark the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space. The launch of the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft is timed to coincide with this event.

In March, Roskosmos also presented a new design for the Soyuz-2.1a with white and blue colors. The creators were inspired by the Vostok ship, which Gagarin flew on.