Three astronauts took an accelerated route to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule that is expected to arrive at the orbital outpost in less than six hours.

American astronaut Chris Cassidy, along with Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), blasted off in their Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday (March 29) (2043GMT Thursday/ 0243 Friday Baikonur time).

The crew is expected to arrive at the International Space Station later Friday, making this the first ever same-day launch and docking operation at the International Space Station.

According to NASA, the astronauts will dock with the station after only four orbits of Earth. It typically takes two days to reach the station.

The Soyuz will dock with the station's Poisk module at the International Space Station at 2232 EDT Thursday (0232GMT Friday).