A Russian Soyuz rocket lofted the Progress freighter into Earth orbit, launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:58 a.m. EST (1158 GMT). Less than 10 minutes later the robot ship was safely in orbit, its main antenna and electricity-generating solar wings unfurled.

Confirmation of that event, relayed to Houston's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center from a flight control room near Moscow, was greeted with smiles by mission managers here.

"It's always a good sign because it let's us keep things going," ISS flight director John Curry told SPACE.com. "Who knows when we're going to be able to launch shuttle, so from now until whenever that occurs the only way to get supplies and cargo up to the crew is via the Progress."

This 13th Progress to visit the station is scheduled to dock there at 8:15 a.m. EST (1315 GMT) Saturday. Live coverage of the event will be provided by NASA TV.

Curry said that during Russian launches such as this one they take a more passive role and leave all the tough work to the Moscow control team. Things change a bit for docking and events such as Russian spacewalks, which require Houston to use some of its communication capability to assist the Russians in monitoring events.

"It's a good example of how we work together," Curry said.

Packed inside the Progress for the Expedition Eight crew of Mike Foale and Alexander Kaleri is 5,171 pounds of material from home, including life support monitoring equipment, tools, clothing, personal hygiene supplies, medicine and by one count at least 91 AA-sized batteries.

The launch took place as the station flew over the Red Sea and afforded a chance for the crew to actually see the Soyuz rocket climb away from the Kazakh steppes.

Live television downlink seen in the station flight control room did not offer any confirmed sightings of the liquid-fueled rocket, which does not leave an obvious exhaust plume like a solid-fueled rocket.

However, a few minutes later, Kaleri reported he thought he saw the booster climbing toward space and may have captured the image on a camera.

Meanwhile, the crew have been busy working a variety of experiments and enjoying Super Bowl XXXVIII-related VIP calls from the ground.

Earlier this week NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue spoke with the crew, and on Tuesday the rock band Aerosmith visited with Foale via radio, exchanging notes on music, the band's concert tour and the possibility of building a space elevator to orbit some day.

Aerosmith is scheduled to perform as part of a tribute to the STS-107 Columbia crew the NFL and CBS-TV plan to broadcast during its pre-game show.