A Russian cargo vessel took off Wednesday from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan heading for the International Space Station (ISS), the control centre announced.

The launch of the Progress spaceship was carried out "as planned" at 0345 GMT and nine minutes later it separated from its booster rockets, a spokesman said quoted by Interfax news agency.

The vessel, carrying 2.7 tonnes of freight, was scheduled to dock with the ISS on Friday.

Its load included fuel, medical equipment, food, clothing and water as well as luxuries such as chocolate and sweets and DVDs of recent Russian films for the crew of the space station.