Soyuz TMA-18M arriving at Space Station

Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft approaching the International Space Station for docking 4 September 2015.

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov were launched into space on 2 September at 04:38 GMT (06:38 CEST) from Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

The launch marks the start of ESA’s 10-day ‘iriss’ mission that will focus on testing new technologies and ways of running complex space missions.

The astronaut’s Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft was pushed into Earth orbit as planned accelerating 50 km/h on every second for the first nine minutes of their launch.

Their docking on 4 September was at 07:39 GMT (09:39 CEST).

Follow the whole mission with live updates via the iriss mission blog and Twitter via @esaoperations

Connect with Andreas at: andreasmogensen.esa.int/