Story highlights The ProgressM-28M lifted off smoothly, with the Soyuz-U capsule atop it

The Soyuz-U is carrying more than 5,200 pounds of supplies to the ISS

(CNN) Resupply missions to the International Space Station rarely fail -- let alone twice in row, like the last two did.

That may make the arrival of the Russian cargo spacecraft that launched Friday all the more welcome -- even if the ISS does keep a large backlog of supplies on board.

The crewless ProgressM-28M lifted from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan just before 8:00 a.m. local time (12:00 a.m. ET / 5:00 a.m. GMT) and cut a clean path through a clear blue sky en route to a low-Earth orbit.

Minutes later, the Soyuz-U cargo vehicle successfully separated from the rest of the rocket, according to the Russian Federal Space Agency, also called Roscosmos.

And it was on course to deliver 5,249 pounds (2,381 kilograms) of supplies to the ISS on Sunday. They include food, water, oxygen, fuel and scientific apparatuses.

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