The Soyuz TM-30 spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri took off at 11:01 a.m. (0501 GMT) and reached orbit nine minutes later en route to Mir, which has been unmanned since August.

The cosmonauts told ground crew shortly afterwards that they felt well and all was in order on board. The vessel is due to dock with Mir at 0633 GMT on Thursday, flight control said.

Their mission has been extended from 45 days to 60, but could last up to 90 days if the firm that manages Mir, Energiya, can raise additional funds.

"This flight is very important for us," Energiya chief Yury Semyonov told the crew shortly before lift-off. "You are giving a second lease of life to the space station," he said.

The mission's main goal is to find the source of an oxygen leak causing a considerable drop in pressure inside the Mir crew module.

Energiya deputy chairman Nikolai Zelenshchikov said the current mission would enhance the ambitious International Space Station project which groups Canada, Japan, Russia, the United States, and the 11 members of the European Space Agency.

"A study of systems on Mir after 14 years in orbit will allow us to better ensure the success of the International Space Station," he told AFP.

Mir would still be able to stay in orbit if the cosmonauts fail to find the leak since it is regularly resupplied with oxygen, he added.

The pride of the Soviet space programme was launched in 1986, but Zelenshchikov said it was still "capable of functioning for two or three more years."

Speaking before lift-off, flight engineer Kaleri said: "Once onboard Mir, we will be able to depressurise it and carry out repair work, because the station has been uninhabited for a long time.

"We are also going to conduct a number of scientific experiments and a space walk," he added.

"One of the experiments consists of perfecting a technique of reducing the onboard temperature, which is currently 28 degrees Celsius (82.4 degrees Fahrenheit)," said Zalyotin.

However, a lack of cash had forced the cancellation of a number of scientific experiments, he added.

Mir's 60-million dollar (62,5 million euro) annual budget is now being managed by MirCorp, an Amsterdam-based consortium grouping Energiya and the US venture capital firm Gold and Appel, which has come up with 20 million dollars for this attempt to keep the station alive.

Mir has been uninhabited since last August and was expected to be allowed to drift out of orbit to a fiery destruction in the Earth's atmosphere until Energiya entered the picture.

Moscow had lacked the funds to keep Mir going while also paying for its part in the second-generation International Space Station (ISS).

Mir had a chequered career, with a string of incidents in 1997 which included an onboard fire and a near-fatal collision with a cargo craft.

Its main computer shut down at least four times, leaving its occupants spinning through space in total darkness.

But it was also on Mir that the majority of space flight records were set, including the longest space stay of 437 days set by Valery Polyakov in 1994-1995.

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SPACE TRAVEL

Russian cosmonaut-commander Sergei Zaletin (R) and cosmonaut-engineer Alexander Kaleri (L) wave hands after a press-conference in Baikonur, 03 April 2000. The launch of 'Soyuz TM-30 to 'Mir' orbital station is scheduled for tomorrow (April4th). Photo by Sergei Chirikov. Copyright EPA - 2000.

Funding Mir Beyond May
Baikonur (AFP) April 3, 2000 - Two Russian cosmonauts were set to blast off Tuesday for the Mir space station on the 28th and perhaps final mission unless managers can find more funds for the aging symbol of Moscow's space prowess.