Russia's Progress M1-5 cargo ship, due to steer the ageing Mir space station to destruction, successfully blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome early Wednesday, space officials told AFP.
The Mir station is currently fully prepared for the unmanned docking, which is scheduled for Saturday, Russian mission control center's spokesman said by telephone.
The successful launch at 7:29 Moscow time (0429 GMT) comes as a relief after Russian space chiefs had to delay the planned launch of Progress on Thursday due to last-minute problems with Mir's orientation system.
The Progress craft will lower Mir's orbit to 80 kilometers (50 miles), making it enter the atmosphere's dense layers where most of the 15-year-old station will burn up.
The decision to bring down Mir follows several accidents in recent years, including a serious fire and a near-fatal collision with a cargo ship in 1997.
Russia has also found that its commitment to the new International Space Station (ISS) has stretched its budget to breaking point, making it unable to support both space projects -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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