The craft docked with the ISS on schedule at 1114 GMT, a mission control spokesman told AFP.

The vessel blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Sunday, carrying 2.3 tonnes of fuel, canned food, water and oxygen as well as equipment for scientific experiments.

Russian flight commander Yury Malenchenko and US flight engineer Edward Lu arrived at the space station in late April for a six-month mission.

Wednesday's docking marks the first time that two Progress vessels have been attached to the ISS at the same time, which should make correcting the rotating station's orbit more effective, Russian specialists said.

That task was usually carried out by US vessels but Russia has been the only country servicing the station since the United States grounded its crew following the Columbia disaster on February 1.

On a visit to Baikonur Wednesday, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia would continue placing top priority on its space program.

"Russia's future is unthinkable without space," RIA Novosti news agency quoted him as saying.

He also said Russia would continue to rent the Baikonur complex from Kazakhstan.

"While choosing to develop all the cosmodromes on its own territory, Russia has no intention of renouncing its use of Baikonur," Ivanov said.

Russia operates two cosmodromes on its territory -- Plessetsk in the northwest and Svobodny in the Far East -- but currently only flights from Baikonur service the ISS.

Russia has also entered into an agreement with the European Space Agency, allowing it to launch Soyuz rockets from the space station at Kourou, French Guiana.

SPACE.WIRE