Trio of astronauts in fast-track mission to International Space Station

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with the Soyuz MS-17 space ship blasts off (Roscosmos Space Agency/AP)

Three astronauts have blasted off for the International Space Station, using a fast-track manoeuvre to reach the orbiting outpost in just three hours.

Nasa’s Kate Rubins and Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos lifted off as scheduled at 10.45am local time (6.45am Irish time) from the Baikonur space launch facility in Kazakhstan for a six-month stint on the station.