The two Russians and one American left on a Soyuz rocket from the main launchpad at Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the same location where Gagarin went on his historic space mission on April 12, 1961.
The flight in the early hours of the morning left a bright beam of light against the background of the clear starry sky over the vast Kazakh steppe, an AFP correspondent reported.
Their mission has been dedicated to Yuri Gagarin's flight, which gave the Soviet Union its greatest Cold War victory over the United States and their Soyuz capsule is named after and inscribed with the name of the cosmonaut.
"The flight is normal," mission control told the crew, who waved and gave the thumbs-up sign to a camera relaying images from the capsule back to earth.
Cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Andrei Borisenko are making their first space flight while US astronaut Ronald Garan is making his second mission, having already flown on US shuttle Discovery in 2008.
"We are feeling good," said the voice of one of the crew, apparently flight commander Samokutyaev. "I wish you success and a good flight," said the head of Russia's space agency, Anatoly Perminov.
The Soyuz capsule successfully went into Earth orbit and is due to dock with the ISS at 2318 GMT on Wednesday, after a two-day journey.
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