* First manned launch since US shuttle programme retired

* Launch was delayed from September over safety fears

* Problems could leave station empty for first time in decade

KOROLYOV, Russia - Three astronauts blasted off on Monday to restore a full crew to the International Space Station (ISS) after the crash of a Russian cargo spaceship disrupted operations and undermined faith in the Russian space programme.

The launch at 0414 GMT was the first since NASA ended its 30-year shuttle programme in July, heralding a gap of several years when the 16 nations investing in the $100-billion space station will rely solely on Russia to ferry crews.

Once safely in orbit, the astronaut trio flashed a thumbs-up signal to onboard cameras and applause broke out at the cavernous Mission Control centre in a northern Moscow suburb.

International Space Station (ISS) crew members US astronaut Daniel Burbank (L) and Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin sit in their space suits at Baikonur cosmodrome November 14, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Monday's mission was delayed from September over safety fears after an unmanned Russian Progress craft taking supplies to astronauts broke up in the atmosphere in one of the worst Russian space mishaps in decades.

Any problem in reaching the ISS could leave the space station empty for the first time in more than a decade when the current three-man crew returns to Earth later this month.

For veteran NASA astronaut Daniel Burbank, it is the first voyage on board a Soyuz spacecraft from Russia's Baikonur launchpad in Kazakhstan, while cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Anton Shkaplerov are making their maiden space voyage.

But the crew shrugged off safety concerns before lift off from a snowbound Baikonur.

"We don't have any black thoughts. We have faith in our equipment," Shkaplerov said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

After a cramped two-day journey aboard the Soyuz TMA-22 capsule, the crew will dock with the space station on November 16, overlapping briefly with station commander Mike Fossum of NASA, Japan's Satoshi Furukawa and Russia's Sergei Volkov.

Russia's space agency chief said the August 24 rocket failure was an "isolated" glitch caused by a fuel pipe blockage.

But it added to a string of failures that marred this year's celebration of the 50 years since Yuri Gagarin's pioneering orbit and pointed to deeper troubles with Russia's space industry.  

Moscow hopes a smooth mission will begin to restore its reputation after more trouble this week when a launch touted as post-Soviet Russia's interplanetary debut went awry.

Russia has likely lost the $165-million Phobos-Grunt probe, which is stuck in orbit and may drop to Earth after it failed to set a course toward Mars' moon after launch on Wednesday.

Botched launches have also lost Russia a high-tech military orbiter, a costly telecommunication satellite and set back plans for a global navigation system to rival the US GPS.

While NASA suffered the tragic loss of crews on its Columbia and Challenger shuttles in 2003 and 1986, Russia last suffered such an accident in 1971, when three cosmonauts died on their way back to Earth on the Soyuz-11 mission.

This year the United States turned over all crewed flight responsibilities to Russia, at a cost of about $350 million a year, until commercial firms can offer space-taxi rides.

NASA is seeking $850 million to help US-based private companies develop human orbital transport capabilities with the goal of breaking Russia's monopoly on ferrying astronauts to the space station before the end of 2016.