MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russia's Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft has docked successfully with the International Space Station (ISS), a spokesman for Russian mission control said.
"The docking was achieved automatically and without any problems," spokesman Valery Lyndin said. "Everything went very smoothly, it went very well."
The Soyuz rocket is carrying Belgian Frank de Winne, Canadian Robert Thirsk, and Russian Roman Romanenko, who will double the permanent crew of the space station to six for the first time.
They join Russian Gennady Padalka, U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt, and Japan's Koichi Wakata.