The ship, which was already connected to its Soyuz rocket launcher, was transported from the test centre on a railtrack and positioned onto the launchpad at the traditional time of 7:00 am (0200 GMT).

Yevgeny Kushnir, director of the Russian space centre, said that a final check of the rocket system and space equipment would be made on Sunday afternoon.

"This is the first time that we have ever launched a Soyuz rocket to the ISS and it is a huge responsibility. I am sure that the launch will be successful," said Kushnir.

A logo advertising the American multimedia company Dreamtime was attached to the rocket launcher.

Russian space agency spokesman Sergei Gorbunov said that the US firm had paid "several hundred thousand dollars" to the Russian space centre and the Progress space bureau in Samara, which constructs Soyuz rockets, for the advertisement.

Dreamtime has signed a 100-million-dollar contract with NASA to broadcast footage from the ISS on the internet.

On Thursday, American William Shepherd and Russians Sergei Krikalyov and Yury Gidzenko will be the first crew to enter the ISS where they will remain until February 2001 when a replacement crew arrives.

The space station project is backed by 16 nations led by the United States and Russia. ISS currently consists of the Russian modules Zvezda and Zarya, and the US module Unity.