Winter remained with a firm grip of Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome when on Friday, February 9, 2018 a Soyuz 2-1A rocket emerged from its assembly hall at the traditional early morning hour to move to the launch pad at Site 31/6 and set the stage for a Sunday liftoff to the International Space Station.

Integration of a Soyuz 2-1A rocket was finished at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, February 8, 2018 in preparation for an early morning rollout on Friday to set the stage for the launch of the Progress MS-08 cargo vehicle headed to the International Space Station via a two-orbit rendezvous to deliver two and a half metric tons of food, fuel and supplies to the orbiting complex as the first of three planned Progress missions in 2018.

The Progress MS-08 cargo spacecraft completes final pre-launch processing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in preparation for a February 2018 liftoff on an expedited two-orbit rendezvous with the International Space Station that will eventually allow cargo and crews to reach their orbital destination faster.