Coming after its first successful docking mission with the International Space Station, this marks the first time that a commercial spacecraft will be docking with the International Space Station with cargo.
It involves the docking a small robotic spacecraft onto the surface of an asteroid and then using the same propulsion unit that got it there to push the asteroid off its course.
Before leaving the space station, the Progress 47 spacecraft conducted a test of an upgraded docking system that Russia intends to use on future unmanned Progress and manned Soyuz vehicles.
The scheduled trip comes just a little over four months after the project successfully completed a docking test by the unmanned private spacecraft with the International Space Station.
That's why it has traditionally taken so long to get there, with the spacecraft going round the Earth every 90 or so minutes, which works out to about 16 total before docking.
It will develop orbiting fuel depots, rendezvous-and-docking technologies, advanced life-support systems that recycle all of their materials, and better motors for spacecraft.