A Russian Progress M-08M cargo spaceship was launched from the Kazakh Baikonour space center Wednesday, delivering 2.5 tons of supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), said Mission Control center outside Moscow.

With the Earth's horizon in the background, an unmanned Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station in this undated photograph obtained on July 3, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)
The cargo spaceship atop a Soyuz-U carrier rocket blasted off at around 19:12 Moscow time (1312 GMT), and started an automatic flight of three days some nine minutes later.

It will take to the ISS fuel and equipment for the station, and oxygen, water, clothing and food for the cosmonauts.

Besides, this time the astronauts will receive New Year gifts sealed in a package with the words: "To be opened on December 31," said the Russian Federal Space Agency, or Roskosmos.

This was the fifth also the last Progress cargo ship launch of this year.

The new generation of Progress vehicles is lighter in weight and equipped with a modern digital control system, which enables the spacecraft to dock with the ISS more accurately.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet