Live coverage: Soyuz crew capsule departs station, lands in Kazakhstan

With three space station fliers heading home Sunday after a 168-day mission, three fresh crew members made final preparations for launch three days later to boost the lab’s crew back to six in a rapid-fire rotation that will prevent any major interruption of research activity.

On its first launch of the year, a Russian-made Proton rocket lifted off Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a French-built, Russian-owned communications satellite.

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station on Monday with more than 8,000 pounds of cargo, including new astronaut sleeping quarters, parts for the station’s toilet, and numerous biomedical and technology experiments.