Russia launching 3 tons of cargo to the space station today: Watch it live

Russia is set to launch a cargo mission to the International Space Station today, September 16, with the robotic Progress 96 spacecraft. The Soyuz rocket will carry the Progress 96 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:33 a.m. EDT. Live coverage of the launch will be available on Space.com starting at 9:15 a.m. EDT. The Progress 96 is loaded with approximately 3 tons of food, propellant, and other supplies for the astronauts aboard the ISS.

If the mission proceeds as planned, the freighter will arrive at the station two days after launch. The Progress 96 will remain docked to the ISS for about five months, after which it will be unloaded with trash and sent to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The Progress 94 spacecraft followed a similar path on September 7, making room for the new cargo mission.

Currently, seven individuals are living aboard the ISS, including NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and Anil Menon, along with European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian space agency Roscosmos astronauts Pyotr Dubrov, Andrey Fedyaev, and Anna Kikina.