It looked like a beautiful, textbook launch this morning, with the Soyuz rocket powering gracefully into the blue skies over Baikonur.

It will take two days for the crew to hook up with the International Space Station. The launch marks the beginning of a six-month mission for European Space Agency astronaut Frank de Winne. He's flying with a Russian, Roman Romenenko, and a Canadian, Robert Thirsk.

You can follow the mission via the OasISS twitter feed here.

The arrival of the new crew at the ISS will bring the total onboard to six, the first time the station has had a full crew. Until now, it was only able to support a crew of three.

Esa has a full briefing on the naming of the mission and the scientific research that will be carried out.