"The station's permanent crew will soon consist of six rather than three people, and they will need more food," Vladimir Solovyov said.
"Besides, with the arrival of the U.S. shuttle Atlantis, the station will receive the new European module Columbus, the maintenance of which will demand additional expendables," he said.
Russia's Progress M-63 cargo ship docked with the ISS as planned on Thursday, delivering 2.5 metric tons of cargo, including food, equipment and other supplies to the station.
The crew on board the ISS, the 16th expedition to the space station, comprises U.S. astronauts Peggy Whitson and Daniel Tani, as well as Russia's Yury Malenchenko.
NASA said that a repeatedly-delayed Atlantis space shuttle launch had been set for today. The astronauts were reported to have boarded the shuttle in the hope that this time the launch would finally go ahead.
During the upcoming mission, the crew members will carry out three spacewalks, installing and activating the $2 billion Columbus space laboratory, which has taken some 10 years to construct and is Europe's main contribution to the ISS.
The ISS crew will also see a new face, with flight engineer Daniel Tani set to be replaced by European Space Agency astronaut Leopold Eyharts.
The flight has been repeatedly put off since December 6 over problems with faulty fuel tank sensors and a radiator hose. The launch of the 24th shuttle mission to the ISS is still uncertain, however, due to weather concerns that make yet another delay extremely likely.
