Korean American astronaut Jonny Kim has begun the journey to carry out his first mission to the International Space Station. 

According to NASA, the Roscosmos Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, carrying Kim and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:47 p.m. Korea Standard Time on Tuesday. 

During the eight-month mission, Kim will serve as a flight engineer. 

NASA said that after a two-orbit, three-hour trajectory to the station, the spacecraft will dock automatically to the station’s Prichal module at approximately 6:03 p.m. Korea Standard Time. 

Born in Los Angeles to Korean immigrants, Kim is also a U.S. Navy officer and physician who was selected to join NASA Astronaut Group 22 in 2017.