Washington, Dec 15 (EFE).– Russia’s Soyuz TMA-19M space capsule docked successfully with the International Space Station on Tuesday, bringing three astronauts to the orbiting platform.

The spacecraft was launched at 1103 GMT from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and docked with the ISS exactly 6 1/2 hours later, NASA said on its Web page.

On board the capsule were Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, American Tim Kopra and Tim Peake, the first Briton to travel to the ISS.

British Prime Minister David Cameron wished Peake good luck in a video message in which he said that he would follow the space mission with “admiration and wonder.”

The crew of the Soyuz craft are part of the 46/47 mission to the ISS and will remain on board the orbiting platform for seven months working on a broad range of scientific experiments.

The current occupants of the space station welcomed them to their new home: Russians Mikhail Kornienko and Sergei Volkov, and American Scott Kelly.

Nov. 2 was the 15th anniversary of continuous human presence on board the ISS, with more than 200 people from 15 countries traveling to the space station.

The ISS is a project costing more than $100 billion in which 15 nations are participating. It orbits the Earth at more than 27,000 kilometers (16,740 miles) per hour at an altitude of 400 kilometers (250 miles).

The main participants in the ISS – Russia, the United States and the European Space Agency – this year agreed to extend its operating life four years beyond its previously-scheduled 2020 termination date. EFE