German astronaut to take potato soup to ISS

German astronaut Matthias Maurer will take venison ragout and potato soup in his luggage when he travels to the International Space Station at the end of October, reported dpa.

The 51-year-old said the "typical German" food had been prepared for him but that he hadn't tested it yet, in comments at a Thursday press conference.

"I will share it with my crew mates and I am sure it will be very delicious and everyone is looking forward to it," he said.

The main objective of the trip is research - Maurer said he and his colleagues have 300 to 350 experiments "in our luggage."

NASA astronauts Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari and Kayla Barron will travel with Maurer in the Dragon capsule developed by Elon Musk's private space firm SpaceX.

They will lift off from the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida.

The astronauts will carry out experiments at an altitude of some 400 kilometres for six months - as well as completing a field mission.

The crew is scheduled to dock with the ISS on October 31.

Maurer said he is looking forward to photographing Earth from above after spending a year travelling around the world.