Russia launched the Olympic torch into space on Thursday, as part of the flame’s journey ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Live television pictures showed a Soyuz spacecraft taking off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying three astronauts who will deliver the torch to the International Space Station (ISS).
The flight to the ISS is expected to take about six hours.
On Saturday, two astronauts are due to take the torch on a space walk for the first time in Olympic history.
The Sochi Winter Olympics are due to begin on February 7 next year.