A Russian automated cargo ship is poised for launch Sunday from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the first refueling mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

The 7-ton Progress M-1-3 craft is set to ride to orbit at 2:26 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (1826 GMT) on a Soyuz rocket booster -- the same type that typically carries Russian cosmonauts into orbit.

After two days of maneuvers, the cargo ship is expected to automatically rendezvous and dock with the ISS at 4:09 p.m. EDT (20:09 GMT) on Tuesday.

Processing crews in Baikonur rolled out the Soyuz rocket with the Progress M-1-3 spacecraft to a launch pad on Friday morning In preparation for the blastoff.

Most of the propellant Progress will deliver to the station, almost 1.6 tons, will be used to refill the Zvezda service module's fuel tanks. By the time Zvezda approached the ISS for its successful July 25 linkup, the module had spent a considerable amount of its fuel cache climbing to a higher altitude after being placed in its initial orbit by a Proton rocket launched July 12.

Along with the fuel, the Progress will ferry a numerous "housekeeping" items to the station. The most vital part of this package will be life-support hardware that produces oxygen, scrubs carbon dioxide from the outpost's atmosphere and maintains thermal control aboard the station. Other items include TV equipment, a vacuum cleaner, hardware for spacewalks and an electric food warmer.

Last but not least will be personal items for the station's first resident crew, which is set to liftoff on October 30. These items include toothbrushes, toothpaste, combs, brushes, medical kits, laptop computers, pens and pencils.

Another job for Progress will be reboosting the station's ever degrading orbit, sparing ISS propulsion systems which are designed to survive in space for at least 15 years.

The Progress M-1-type vehicle itself can remain in space up to 180 days. After the spacecraft completes its mission, it will be directed toward Earth to reenter and burn up in its atmosphere.

Although most of the supplies delivered by the Progress M-1-3 will serve the first long-term expedition, a visiting space-shuttle crew will do the job of unloading the cargo from this craft. Space Shuttle Atlantis is currently being prepared for launch on September 8.

Yet another Progress is set to blast off to the station in the second half of September. The resident crew should find that ship docked to the station upon their arrival.

Starting in 1978, the Soviet Union sent up Progresses to resupply its Salyut 6, Salyut 7 and Mir space stations. Although, there were a few dangerous incidents involving Progress vehicles, none of the ships ever failed to deliver its cargo.

According to officials at RKK Energia, the company which developed Soyuz and Progress, the cargo ships have been instrumental in keeping a nearly continuous presence of Russian cosmonauts in space.

The Progress M-1 model is the latest reincarnation of the cargo ship introduced this year. The craft allows delivery of some 1,765 pounds (800 kilograms) of extra propellant thanks to its redesigned interior. To make additional room for the propellant tanks, designers moved six air tanks from their former location inside the middle section of the craft on its exterior.

Currently, another Progress M-1 spacecraft is docked to the Mir space station, which has been flying pilotless since its last crew departed in June.