US astronaut, 2 Russian cosmonauts reached safely the International Space Station: NASA

The American space agency NASA has said that a US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have reached safely the International Space Station (ISS), after blasting off on a Russian-operated flight. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and NASA, both distributed live footage of the launch from the launch pad in Kazakhstan.

According to media reports, all three astronauts will spend six months on the Space Station. Tensions in the space field have grown since Washington announced sanctions on Moscow’s aerospace industry. The International Space Station was launched in 1998 at a time of hope for US-Russia cooperation following their Space Race competition during the Cold War.