An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft docked early Saturday at the International Space Station (ISS), bringing food and materials to the three-member crew orbiting earth, said Russian flight officials here.

The freighter Progress M-59 delivered 2.5 tonnes of fresh fruit, drinking water and fuel to the station, and letters and family gifts for the three astronauts in long-term residence there. The station orbits about 400 km above earth.

Progress lifted off Wednesday from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on its 24th visit to the station, US space officials said. During the two years the heavy-lifting US shuttle was grounded after a re-entry disaster, small piloted Russian spacecraft also transported astronauts to and from the station.

Indian American Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and US astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria currently operate the station.

The crew is expected to open the hatch to the Progress overnight and unload the cargo over the coming weeks, the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) said.

The cargo also includes 781 kg of propellant for the Russian thrusters, 50 kg of oxygen and about 1,500 kg of spare parts, experiment hardware and life support components.