Watch Russian Progress cargo spacecraft launch toward the ISS tonight

A Russian cargo spacecraft will launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) tonight (Aug. 22), and you can watch the action live.

The Progress 85 vehicle is scheduled to lift off atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight at 9:08 p.m. EDT (0108 GMT on Aug. 23).

You can watch the launch live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. Coverage will start at 8:45 p.m. EDT (0045 GMT on Aug. 23).

Related: International Space Station — Everything you need to know

Russia’s Progress 82 cargo craft, packed with three tons of food, fuel, and supplies, is pictured shortly after docking to the International Space Station in October 2022. (Image credit: NASA)

Progress 85 is packed with about 3 tons of food, propellant and other supplies for the astronauts aboard the ISS. 

If all goes according to plan, the freighter will arrive at the orbiting lab on Thursday (Aug. 24) at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 GMT on Aug. 25). You can watch the rendezvous and docking here on Space.com when the time comes.

Progress 85's launch comes just a few days after the departure of a previous Russian cargo vehicle. Progress 83 left the ISS on Sunday (Aug. 20) after a six-month stay, to be deorbited over the open ocean. (This is normal for Progress vehicles; unlike SpaceX's Dragon capsules, Progress freighters aren't designed for recovery and reuse.)

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There's still another Progress docked to the ISS — Progress 84, which arrived at the orbiting lab in late May.

And yet another spacecraft will head to the orbiting lab soon after Progress 85 does. SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule Endurance is scheduled to launch early Friday morning (Aug. 25), carrying four astronauts to the ISS on the Crew-7 mission.