The spacecraft carrying the nation’s first astronaut will dock at the International Space Station (ISS) around 10 p.m. Thursday night, Korean time.

The Korea Aerospace Research Institute said Wednesday the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft, carrying Yi Soyeon and two Russian cosmonauts, is orbiting the Earth at an altitude of some 220 kilometers above the planet's surface. The Russian spacecraft is currently completing one Earth orbit every 90 minutes.

The institute added the Soyuz will fly around the Earth 34 times before arriving at the ISS, which is orbiting at an altitude of 350 kilometers.

Yi is scheduled to communicate via video with Russia’s Mission Control Center three-and-a-half hours after docking at the ISS.

The Soyuz blasted off from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Space Center late Tuesday.

With the successful launch, Korea has become the 36th country in the world to engage in human space flight.