It was launched from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday and is set to arrive at the station on Saturday.

The robot, named Fedor (Experimental Demonstration Object Research), is the first ever sent into space by Russia.

In order to test a new emergency rescue system, the robot was the Soyuz rocket's only passenger.

Fedor stands some one metre and 80 centimetres tall (5ft 11 inches) and weighs 160 kilograms.

During its 10 days at the ISS, Fedor will learn new skills such as "connecting and disconnecting electric cables, using standard items from a screwdriver and a spanner to a fire extinguisher," said Alexander Bloshenko, the Russian space agency's director for prospective programmes and science.

It is hoped that Fedor will eventually carry out more dangerous tasks such as spacewalks.

Fedor is not the first robot sent into space.

The US sent a robot into space in 2011 with the aim of working in high-risk environments. It was flown back to earth last year after suffering technical problems.

Japan also sent a robot to the ISS in 2013.