On December 17, 2017 at 07:21 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-07” 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 Anton Shkaplerov (center); American astronaut Scott Tingle (right) and Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai (金井 宣茂), (left).

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

The space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on December 19. Shkaplerov, Tingle and Kanai will join current ISS expedition members Misurkin, Vande Hei and Acaba.