The International Space Station (ISS) received a new module Thursday when Russia docked its 22-ton Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module at 9:29am ET – the first time in a decade that a new part has been sent to the floating space lab. Nauka, which means'science' in Russian' launched on July 21 atop a Russian Proton rocket. This rocket also carried the new European Robotic Arm, or ERA, a 16-foot-long two-handed robot that can move freely outside of the ISS. After eight days in free-flight, the uncrewed 43-foot-long module linked up to the port on the Earth-facing Russian segment of the ISS. Nauka will be a new science facility, docking port and spacewalk airlock for future operations, along with providing additional crew quarters, a galley and a toilet.

Russia's long-delayed lab module successfully docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, eight days after it was launched from the Russian space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The 20-metric-ton (22-ton) Nauka module, also called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, docked with the orbiting outpost in an automatic mode after a long journey and a series of manoeuvres. Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, confirmed the module's contact with the International Space Station at 13:29 GMT. It carried with it the European Robotic Arm (ERA) payload, which can handle components up to 8000 kilograms and transport astronauts. The launch of Nauka, which is intended to provide more room for scientific experiments and space for the crew, had been repeatedly delayed because of technical problems.

A Proton rocket launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, taking the European Robotic Arm (ERA) payload to the International Space Station. The 11-meter long robot has been folded and attached to the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, also called'Nauka', that will be its home base when it reaches the ISS. The rocket put Nauka and the ERA into orbit at 16:08pm GMT, ten minutes after liftoff, at an altitude of nearly 200 kilometres above the Earth. The ISS already has two robotic arms, which are used to berth spacecraft and transfer payloads and astronauts, but neither arm can each the Russian segment, the European Space Agency said. Instead, the ERA will'walk' around the Russian parts of the orbital complex, handling components up to 8000 kilograms, and transport astronauts when it eventually reaches the station.

Russia is launching a new module for the International Space Station (ISS), after more than a decade of delays. The Nauka module is set to lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on top of a Proton-M rocket at around 1500 GMT today, along with a new robotic arm for the station created by the European Space Agency. The ISS is composed of modules and equipment from different space agencies including Europe, Japan and Canada, but the bulk of the station is composed of two main sections, a Russian segment and a US segment. At 13 metres long and weighing more than 20 tonnes, Nauka, also called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, will be among the largest in Russia's half. After launch, Nauka will take eight days to reach the ISS.