The launch of the new crew including Malenchenko (Roscosmos), Timothy Kopra (NASA) and Timothy Peake (European Space Agency) is scheduled for December 15 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on board the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft.

The period of service of a new International Space Station (ISS) crew in orbit has been increased from six to seven months due to update of the flight program, the new space expedition commander said Monday.

"Our flight will last more than six months. It has indeed been extended for one month due to the program update. We will have a lot of work. We are expecting a very difficult, intense but interesting expedition," Yuri Malenchenko told journalists at a press conference at the Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center.

The ISS crew will work with new cargo ships Progress M-M and Progress M-C. In addition, the crew are expected to carry out a spacewalk and receive the American cargo ships Dragon and Cygnus and perform works on equipping the Russian and American ISS segments.