The Russian Progress M-13M cargo spacecraft docked on Wednesday in an automatic regime with the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's Mission Control said.

The space freighter delivered a variety of technical equipment, fuel, water and food supplies to the ISS crew, including fruits and vegetables.

The spacecraft also orbited a small satellite, Chibis-M, to study lightning and thunderstorms in the Earth's atmosphere.

The Progress will stay at the station until January 25 when it will undock and return to Earth to be "buried" in the Pacific Ocean.

The previous space freighter Progress M-12M, which was intended to deliver supplies to the ISS, was lost on August 24 and fell in south Siberia after failing to separate from the Soyuz-U booster as a result of a rocket engine failure.

The crew of the International Space Station currently comprises NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, and Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. They are expected to return to the Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-02M on November 22.

Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, and NASA astronaut Daniel Burbank will join the current crew on November 16, traveling to the ISS on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft.