On November 17, 2016 at 20:20 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-03” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy (center); French astronaut Thomas Pesquet (right) and American astronaut Peggy Whitson (left).

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

The space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on November 20. Novitskiy, Pesquet and Whitson will join current ISS expedition members Ryzhikov, Borisenko and Kimbrough.