Watch ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov being launched into space on 2 September. Coverage starts at 03:35 GMT (05:35 CEST), with launch at 04:38 GMT (06:38 CEST).

ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen is heading for the International Space Station on a 10-day mission to test technology, new ways of running space missions and swap a spacecraft.

Launch: His launch is scheduled from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 04:37:43 GMT, 06:37:43 Central European Time, 10:37:43 local Baikonur time.

Their Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft will reach 28 800 km/h in less than an hour. Within 10 minutes of rising from the pad, Andreas, Roscosmos commander Sergei Volkov and Kazakh cosmonaut Aidyn Aimbetov will have travelled over 1640 km and gained 210 km altitude. Every second for nine minutes, their spacecraft will have accelerated 50 km/h on average.

Docking: Docking with the International Space Station and opening the hatch between the spacecraft will take place on Friday morning.

Sequence of events from launch to docking, all times in GMT.

Sequence of events from launch to docking, all times in GMT.

Return: Andreas’s Space Station sprint will see him leave behind the new spacecraft he arrived in, returning in the older Soyuz TMA-16M on 11 September.

On Earth, ESA’s Columbus Control Centre at Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich, Germany, will be following and helping Andreas around the clock during his sprint.