Video: Soyuz MS-01 leaves the space station for landing

Orbital ATK ground crews in Virginia are fueling the next Cygnus cargo freighter this week for launch toward the International Space Station in mid-October on the first flight of the company’s upgraded Antares rocket in two years.

Japan’s eighth robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station arrived at its destination Saturday, delivering six fresh lithium-ion batteries, science experiments, CubeSats and other gear to the research outpost.

Russian commander Alexey Ovchinin, NASA co-pilot Nick Hague and astronaut Christina Koch lifted off aboard a Soyuz rocket Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, heading for the International Space Station to raise the research outpost’s crew complement back to six. The Soyuz booster launched at 1914 GMT (3:14 p.m. EDT), and docking at the space station occurred at 0101 GMT (9:01 p.m. EDT).