Russian cargo ship set for quick delivery of supplies to ISS

Washington : In a demonstration of expedited capability, a Russian cargo ship is readying itself to deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) in less than four hours. The Progress 70 resupply ship, loaded with almost 2,721 kgs of food, fuel and supplies, is set to launch from Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan at 3.51 am (Kazakhstan time) on Tuesday. 

"Russian mission controllers are planning a short three hour and 48 minute delivery trip, or just two orbits, to the station's Pirs docking compartment," NASA said in a blog post. The success of this mission may set the way for future Russian cargo and crew launches using the same expedited capability. The cargo vehicle will remain at the orbital outpost until late January 2019, NASA said. The SpaceX's 15th cargo flight to the space station that launched on June 29 took three days to reach the space station.