An unpiloted Russian spaceship blasted off on Monday carrying food, water and fuel to two astronauts stationed on the international space station, a mission control spokesman said.
Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and American astronaut Leroy Chiao have been living on the orbiting laboratory since October and are entirely dependent on Russian supply deliveries because U.S. shuttles have been grounded for the past two years.
"Everything went well," the spokesman said.
After the Columbia disaster that killed seven astronauts, the United States withdrew its entire shuttle fleet from service. NASA officials are planning to return the shuttle to flight from May or June.
The Progress M-52 took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which Russia rents from its ex-Soviet neighbor.
The Progress ship is scheduled to dock with the space station on Wednesday.
