The previous Progress launch in April ended in failure, and on Sunday a US supply mission also failed when SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket broke apart shortly after lift-off.
The success of the latest launch is essential for the station programme, which has relied on Russian spacecraft for ferrying crews after the grounding of the US shuttle fleet.
Less than 10 minutes after launch, the resupply ship reached preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas as planned, said NASA.
The Russian cargo craft will make 34 orbits of Earth during the next two days before docking to the orbiting laboratory at 3:13 a.m. Sunday, July 5.
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