Russian Soyuz-U supply rocket placed on launch pad

A Russian Soyuz-U rocket carrying a Progress M-20M space freighter has been installed on the launch pad at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in preparation for a supply mission to the International Space Station, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday. The launch is scheduled on Sunday morning, according to the Russian (RIA Novosti) News Agency. The Progress M-20M will again return to the “short” six-hour flight path to the International Space Station. The last Progress M-19M cargo spacecraft launched in April 2013 reached the orbital outpost two days after liftoff. The previous three space freighters, Progress M-16M, Progress M-17M and Progress M-18M, also delivered their cargo to the station in six hours. Before the Progress M-16M, which was the first to dock with the ISS just six hours after blastoff from Earth in August 2012, all of Russia’s space freighters delivered their payloads in two days, which was a routine procedure.