Moscow, Jul 5 (EFE).– Russia’s Progress M-28M cargo capsule successfully docked with the International Space Station on Sunday, Russian space agency Roscosmos reported.

“The docking was carried out successfully. The Progress M-28M ship now forms part of the ISS,” Roscosmos said in a communique.

The unmanned space vessel, carrying some 2.5 tons of cargo – including fuel, food, water, scientific equipment and maintenance materials – attached itself to the Pirs docking module, which is part of the Russian portion of the orbital platform.

According to the Russian space agency, the maneuver was conducted fully automatically.

Success of the Progress M-28-M mission to the ISS was vital for the space station’s crew, given that the two prior cargo launches failed.

Last April, Russia lost another Progress cargo vessel which made it into orbit but was unable to deploy its antennaes and plunged back into the atmosphere and burned up.

The second mission failure came on June 28, when the rocket carrying the U.S. Dragon cargo capsule blew up shortly after its launch from Cape Canaveral.

Currently, the ISS crew consists of Russians Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko and American Scott Kelly.

Each year, Russia sends three or four cargo capsules into orbit with supplies for the ISS, a project in which 16 countries are participating at an estimated cost of $100 billion.

The space station, which has been manned continuously since 2000, weighs approximately 450 tons, circles the Earth at an altitude of between 335 and 460 km (208 to 285 miles) and is moving at a speed of about 27,000 kph (16,740 mph). EFE