MOSCOW, Russia -- A two-man crew is preparing to blast off to the international space station (ISS) -- the first manned launch since the Columbia disaster.
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and American astronaut Edward Lu are scheduled to lift off from Baikonur in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan on Saturday.
They will be the seventh crew on the space station since continuous occupation began in November 2000 and will replace three astronauts who are due to return to Earth in May.
With NASA having grounded its shuttles, Russian officials say they need to take the lead in space exploration amid doubt over the future of the ISS -- an 18-nation project.
"We consider ourselves responsible for the upkeep of the international space station until shuttles fly again," said Sergei Gorbunov, spokesman for the Russian space agency Rosaviakosmos.
Malenchenko and Lu have trained together for several months. They have previously been to the ISS on a shuttle visit when they took a space walk together.
They will travel to the station on a Soyuz TMA-2 that has room for up to three passengers but has limited cargo space.
A third crew member withdrew after NASA put on hold space flights following the breakup of Columbia in February.
This will be the first time the space station has had a two-person crew. They are due to stay there until October.
Liftoff was postponed last month following the Columbia disaster.
Meanwhile, Russia launched an unmanned Proton space rocket carrying a military satellite Thursday from Baikonur. Another Proton carrying a commercial satellite is due to be sent into space Friday, according to The Associated Press.
Rosaviakosmos has been strapped for cash since the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia has been raising money by launching foreign satellites and space tourism, starting with American millionaire Dennis Tito who paid $20 million for a trip to the ISS in 2001.