Astronauts blast off for space station on Soyuz rocket

Despite three failed space rocket launches in the past few months, the next crew departed for the International Space Station today.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, along with fellow astronauts Kimiya Yui of Japan and Russian Crew Commander Oleg Kononenko, launched on their Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5:02 p.m. ET for a five-month mission on the International Space Station.

"We're very confident in the rocket at this point. We're very eager to fly," Lindgren said earlier.

"I think from a crew standpoint, the extra two months have given us time for some refresher training and the opportunity to rest a little bit more than a crew normally would have in terms of preparing for flight," said Lindgren.

"I really feel calm and comfortable and I feel 100 per cent sure our mission will be successful," said Yui, who will be on his first mission to the ISS.

Though the team was in high spirits, the trio launched into space after three previous takes off involving unmanned spacecraft carrying supplies and equipment, had experienced major failures.

• Spaceflight disasters show it's still 'very hard' to get into orbit

• Spacecraft failure delays astronauts' return to Earth

Crew commander Kononenko, who has been to the ISS before, says he's focused on the mission ahead.

"The most important part for us is to have all the necessary things that we're going to need during the first days of our stay on the ISS," said Konenenko. "We need to prepare ourselves for work. First of all, we will take care of ourselves. And after that we will take care of the urgent experiments that will need to be unstowed and moved somewhere. After that we will open our food containers and hopefully we will have a good dinner."

Last month, SpaceX's cargo rocket, the Falcon 9, blew up over the Atlantic moments after its launch and investigators say the cause of the explosion has yet to be established, although company CEO thinks it was likely due to a faulty metal brace.

In April, a Russian Progress spacecraft due to deliver cargo to the ISS suddenly spun out of control before it could even reach orbit, sending the cargo ship crashing back to Earth.

And an Antares rocket made by the Orbital Science Corp. exploded and crashed on lift-off from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility.

Lindgren, Kononenko, and Yui will join a three-man crew already on board the ISS, including NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a whole year on the space station.