The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) was raised to create ballistic conditions for the launch of the Progress MS-25 space freighter, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos reported on Thursday.

"Today the orbit of the International Space Station has been adjusted to provide for the launch of the Progress MS-25 resupply ship," Roscosmos said in a statement.

According to preliminary data, the space station’s average orbit increased by 2.8 km to 418.2 km over the Earth’s surface. The maneuver was performed by firing the thrusters of the Progress MS-24 space freighter at 6:46 a.m. Moscow time for 1,029.9 seconds, Roscosmos said.

Currently, Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko who is also a TASS special reporter in space, Nikolay Chub and Konstantin Borisov, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, Danish ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Satoshi Furukawa are working aboard the International Space Station.