The Soyuz rocket with the Soyuz TMA-03M/29S spacecraft has successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:16 GMT, 21st December, 2011.
Wednesday 21 December, 2011 at 13:30 CET: PromISSe mission - Launch ESA TV live coverage starts at 13:30 CET for a lift-off at 14:16 CET with inserts from Baikonur and TSUP Moscow Mission Control Centre and inside Soyuz capsule. See more
Expedition 30 Crew Meets Officials and Reporters as Launch Approaches
Expedition 30 Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko, NASA Flight Engineer Don Pettit and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers appeared before the Russian State Commission on December 20, 2011, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The commission gave its final approval for their launch December 21 to the International Space Station. The crew also conducted a final pre-launch news conference at the Cosmonaut Hotel crew quarters as they prepared for liftoff in the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft. The trio will spend five months on the Station. Also featured in the video are the backup crew members, Russian Soyuz Commander Yuri Malenchenko, NASA Flight Engineer Suni Williams and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide.
A Soyuz rocket with the Soyuz TMA-03M/29S spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:16 GMT, 21st December, 2011.
Expedition 30 begins with the Soyuz TMA-02M undocking in November 2011. Three new crew members will arrive shortly thereafter on Soyuz TMA-03M. Read more