The launch of the ship is dedicated to the historic 1961 Vostok-1 mission, in which Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, as Russia celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first piloted spaceflight in history.
The Soyuz MS-18 Yuri Gagarin is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan, with the International Space Station Expedition 65 aboard. The crew includes two Russian cosmonauts - commander Oleg Novitskiy and flight engineer Pyotr Dubrov, as well as American astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who will also be flight engineer.