Russia has sent the Olympic torch into space with a three-man crew, three months before the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

A Soyuz spacecraft has blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the Olympic torch for the first time in history. In just a few minutes, the spacecraft will reach space on a shortcut trip to the International Space Station.

The torch, which was not lit for safety reasons, was part of the payload of a Soyuz spacecraft that lifted off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

Crew members Mikhail Tyurin of Russia, Rick Mastracchio of the US and Koichi Wakata of Japan will arrive at the International Space Station, 250 miles above Earth, after a six-hour flight.

Two Russian cosmonauts will then take the torch out on a space walk on Saturday – the first time an Olympic torch is to be carried into open space.

Olympic torches were brought along on US space shuttle voyages before the 1996 and 2000 Games.

Decorated with a Sochi 2014 logo and a colourful snowflake design, the rocket lifted off on schedule at 10.14pm local time from Kazakhstan.

The torch will be returned to Earth on Monday to continue a 40,000-mile relay culminating with the start of the Olympics in the Black Sea resort city on February 7.

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