Pettit will fly to the orbiting outpost alongside Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner on the Soyuz MS-26 mission. Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome is set for 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 UTC).

Two days after a rare last-second launch abort, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft blasted off Saturday on a flight to the International Space Station, carrying two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut bound for a six-month tour of duty.

The MS-25 mission was scrubbed on Thursday, but the root cause is still under investigation. The earliest that liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome can now occur is Saturday, March 23, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 11:44 a.m. EDT (1544 UTC) to relieve a space station crew that unexpectedly served a year in space. Russian commander Oleg Kononenko, Russian flight engineer Nikolai Chub and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara took a fast-track trajectory to the station to dock at about 2:56 p.m. EDT (1856 UTC).

Russia’s Progress MS-23 cargo freighter launched Wednesday from Kazakhstan on a mission hauling more than 2.7 tons of fuel, food, experiments, and supplies to the International Space Station.

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft originally slated to bring home two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut parachuted to a landing in Kazakhstan Tuesday, returning to Earth without a crew due to concerns about overheating following a coolant leak while docked at the International Space Station last year.

A replacement for a damaged Russian Soyuz crew ferry spacecraft docked at the International Space Station Saturday night, two days after launching from Kazakhstan on a mission to give two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut a ride back to Earth later this year.

A Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship blasted off from Kazakhstan Thursday, kicking off an unpiloted but critical flight to the International Space Station to replace a damaged Soyuz and provide an eventual ride home for three of the lab’s crew members.

Two months after a coolant leak disabled a Soyuz crew ferry spacecraft at the International Space Station, Russia’s space agency launched of a replacement vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Thursday, and the craft docked at the station at 7:58 p.m. EST Saturday (0058 GMT Sunday). The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft launched without any people on-board, and will serve as a lifeboat and ride home for a three-man space station crew later this year.

Russia’s space agency said Tuesday that preliminary data suggest a coolant leak on a Progress cargo freighter docked at the International Space Station earlier this month was caused by “external influences” — possibly something that occurred during its launch last year, according to a senior NASA space station manager.