BAIKONUR, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia launched on Tuesday a Soyuz carrier rocket with a fourth Russian module for the International Space Station, the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.

"The launch was carried out at 17:22 Moscow time [14:22 GMT]," a Roscosmos spokesman said, adding that the freighter with the research module Poisk (Exploration) separated nine minutes later.

The unmanned module, with a payload of about 700 kilograms, is scheduled to automatically dock with the ISS on Thursday.

It comes with an extra docking port for visiting Soyuz crew vehicles and automated cargo ships. Its arrival will increase the number of Russian docking ports to four.