A Russian Progress cargo spacecraft on a Soyuz booster carrying supplies for the International Space Station crew has successfully completed its record-breaking two-orbit trip in less than four hours.

The Progress MS-09 blasted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket at 21:51 GMT Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Some 1.5 hours and several thruster firings after liftoff, the spacecraft’s onboard computers initiated the automated rendezvous sequence. The craft completed its radar-guided docking with the station’s Pirs module at 01:31 GMT Tuesday.

Russia's Progress 70 cargo craft docked to the station at 9:31pm ET today as both spacecraft orbited over Australia and New Zealand. https://t.co/9efdOh6fUZpic.twitter.com/nUTkr6FoCU — Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) July 10, 2018

A high-definition camera shows the Progress cargo craft approaching the station for a docking to the Pirs docking compartment. https://t.co/yuOTrZ4Jutpic.twitter.com/rRQak3FVLK — Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) July 10, 2018

It was the third attempt to execute the short two-orbit flight scheme for the Progress MS freighter, which required a coordinated effort to realign the orbit of the ISS.Two previous attempts were hindered by delays in the final moments of the countdown that exceeded narrow launch opportunities for the fast-track flight.

The Russian Progress 70 cargo craft lifts off on time at 5:51pm ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a short trip to deliver supplies to the space station. https://t.co/CsJqvFWs2tpic.twitter.com/NT2kTppUY8 — Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) July 9, 2018

Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Prokopyev were on board the station and ready to take over manual control of the craft should any problems occur, but the docking proceeded in a fully automatic mode. The craft has brought over 2.5 tons of water, fuel, food and other supplies, extending the entire crucial provision supply to at least mid-January 2019.

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