The Progress M1-4 spacecraft lifts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Photo: Energia

An unmanned Progress spacecraft loaded with equipment and supplies for the international space station's three-man crew was boosted into orbit this evening from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Liftoff of the Progress M1-4 vehicle took place at 1:32:36 GMT Thursday (8:32:36 p.m. EST today) according to NASA officials in Houston.

"Launch of the second Progress spacecraft to the ISS occurred at 7:33 p.m. Central time," reported NASA's Rob Navias. "Within 10 minutes, the Progress had reached its preliminary orbit with its solar arrays and antennas successfully deployed."

If all goes well, the spacecraft will dock to the Zarya module's Earth-facing, or nadir, port at 3:06:34 GMT Saturday (10:06:34 p.m. EST Friday).

As with Progress dockings to the Mir space station, the linkup Saturday will be fully automatic. But if the automatic system malfunctions, station cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko will be standing by to take over manual control using a TV monitor, joystick and avionics equipment installed last week.

The Progress M1-4 spacecraft is loaded with food, medical equipment, a variety of tools, a ThinkPad computer, a "central post" computer, cables, tethers, electrical gear, alarm system components, carbon dioxide absorbent and additional backup oxygen candles.

Also on board are supplies for the space station's zero-gravity toilet, a sleeping bag and a Russian exercise bicycle. Clothing items include underwear, spare coveralls and fur-lined boots.

The Soyuz-U rocket topped with the Progress M1-4 spacecraft is rolled to the launch pad. Photo: Energia

Mission managers originally intended to launch this Progress before the Expedition One crew's arrival earlier this month. But they decided in September to delay launch until after the crew was on board to operate the TORU manual docking system if necessary.

"It's a backup capability we wanted to have in place for arrival of the first Progress," station flight director Jeff Hanley said last week.

Station skipper William Shepherd, Gidzenko and flight engineer Sergei Krikalev will have less than two weeks to unload the Progress vehicle before it must be jettisoned to make way for the shuttle Endeavour's planned docking around 3 p.m. on Dec. 2.

Endeavour's five-man crew plans to install the P6 solar arrays, a huge set of roll-up solar panels that will stretch some 220 feet from tip to tip once fully unfurled.

The P6 arrays will be mounted atop the Z1 truss, which is latched to the U.S. Unity module's upward facing, or zenith, port.

Endeavour will dock with pressurized mating adapter No. 3, or PMA-3, installed by a shuttle crew in October. PMA-3 is attached to Unity's downward-facing nadir port.

Launch pad access platforms enclose the Soyuz-U rocket during final pre-flight preparations. Photo: Energia

Because of the proximity of the nadir ports on the Zarya and Unity modules, the Progress vehicle must be jettisoned before Endeavour can dock.

And once undocked, there is no way to automatically re-dock the spacecraft after Endeavour departs.

"Once the vehicle comes up to dock with the FGB (Zarya nadir) port, it performs the automatic retraction of one of the antennas," Hanley said. "So once one of these vehicle docks to the FGB port, you'd have to manually re-dock it."

Station crews typically take a month or more to unload a Progress spacecraft's dry cargo and to pack it with unneeded gear and trash. Shepherd and company will have their hands full to complete the job by Dec. 1.

"Everybody says they can get it done and if they couldn't, they would discuss the shuttle schedule in terms of slipping it," said a NASA official. "But I think they're going to get it done."