Soyuz rocket with new ship on launch pad

A spokesman for Russia's Space Forces, Sergei Derevyashkin, told RIA Novosti today that a medium class Soyuz-FG rocket with a new manned Soyuz TMA-1 ship on board had been placed on launch pad no.1 at the Baikonur space centre.

He said that the centre's operational units with the Progress constructor's office (Samara), which designed the Soyuz-Fg, and Energiya specialists (Korolyov, the Moscow region), who designed the Soyuz TMA-1, had reached the final testing stage. The launch to the International Space Station is scheduled for 06.11 Moscow time on October 30th.

The crew will be led by commander Sergei Zaletin, with onboard engineer Yuri Lonchakov and European Space Agency astronaut, Belgian Frank de Winne. The expedition will last for ten days.

The aim of the mission is change the Soyuz Tm-34 "safety ship", which is docked to the station (supplies on it are running low), and to conduct a series of scientific experiments and technological work in ISS segments.