Russia prepares upgraded Soyuz spacecraft for launch

Baikonour (Kazakhstan): Russia's space agency is preparing to launch a new version of the Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) this week, with a crew of Russian, American and Japanese astronauts.
Soyuz MS, moved on Monday from an assembly hangar to the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan ahead of its planned July 7 launch, replaces the Soyuz TMA-M series spacecraft which have been used for ISS expeditions since 2010.
Crewmembers Kate Rubins of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will test modified spacecraft systems for two days, according to NASA, before docking with the station where they plan to spend about four months.