The Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft has successfully lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome towards the International Space Station to shoot the first film in space. The crew consists of the film crew of the Vyzor project: director Klim Shipenko and actress Yulia Peresild, and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday (5) that a flight that popularizes Russia's space achievements is rewarding for the country itself.

"Space is where we have become pioneers. Nevertheless, we maintain a fairly confident position," he said.

The feature film "from space" is titled "Challenge." The film is about a doctor, played by Peresild, who needs to go to an orbital station to save the life of an astronaut.

According to Roscosmos, the film is part of a "large-scale scientific and educational project," which includes a series of documentaries to be shot about rocket and space industry companies and experts involved in the manufacture of launch vehicles, spacecraft and terrestrial space infrastructure.

"The project will become a clear example that spaceflight is slowly becoming available not only to professionals, but also to an ever-wider range of interested parties," says Roscomos.

The Russian mission will last 12 days, and began after the first civilian crew took off aboard the SpaceX spacecraft founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk. However, the Russians will be the first to make a movie in space. On the other hand, earlier this year actor Tom Cruise, Nasa and SpaceX announced their own space project.

First feature film in space

In November, the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, opened a contest for candidates. The winners were the actors Peresild and Shipenko, famous in Russia.

The two civilians went through rigorous training before their space excursion. With the subs, the actress and director prepared by doing spin and vibration tests, training flights in zero gravity, and parachute training.

The crew practiced photography, filming, and using equipment that will be used on the space station.

Other cosmonauts on board, including Novitskiy, will assist as well as integrate the film crew, since their resources are more limited in the space environment.

The astronauts' schedules on the space station are already well defined so that they can work on experiments and take care of necessary maintenance tasks and other priorities.