Video: NASA and SpaceX brief media on space station cargo flight

A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off at 0541 GMT (1:41 a.m. EDT) Thursday from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, carrying a new Russian weather satellite and 32 secondary payloads into polar orbit.

Ground controllers sent commands Saturday for the International Space Station’s Canadian-built robotic arm to release a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule, ending the ship’s nearly four-week stay at the orbiting research complex.

An eight-ton Russian Progress supply ship packed with nearly three tons of food, water and fuel for the International Space Station is ready for liftoff Friday on a vital mission to resume cargo deliveries to the outpost after back-to-back logistics flights fell short.