Russian capsule docks safely at International Space Station

He said: “This isn’t a one-off mission”.

“We’ll be enjoying the fantastic view of planet Earth and our thoughts will be with everyone on Earth enjoying Christmas and with our friends and family”.

Peake, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and cosmonaut commander Yuri Malenchenko will fly to the International Space Station using a Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft.

We have a serious project in the European Space Station to land on the Moon, as a steppingstone to Mars.

The world will today watch Tim Peake go where no Briton has gone before by launching into space to become a member of the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit around Earth.

The International Space Station crew member Timothy Peake of Britain reacts behind a glass wall at a news conference at Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, December 14, 2015. With these things, you don’t usually see a British astronaut, let alone someone with a local connection.

There have been other UK-born astronauts, but they either held US citizenship or were privately funded.

His fellow crew members, Russian space veteran Yuri Malenchenko and NASA’s Tim Kopra, have already spent 641 and 58 days in space respectively. As a result, “The Force Awakens” will be screened on board the International Space Station so that astronauts on board won’t miss out on Earth’s biggest pop culture moment of the year.

“That’s what really prepares you for what’s to come”.

Major Peake said closely following his training for the mission over the past two and a half years had helped his family understand what he was about to do.

Once at the ISS, Mr Peake will begin a programme of experiments and educational activities created to get young people interested in science.

Major Peake, 43, and his crew received a blessing from a priest before they left for the rocket.

Richard Farrimond was one of four United Kingdom astronauts selected to launch satellites from Nasa’s space shuttle in the 1980s, though the missions were cancelled after the Challenger disaster.

There were emotional scenes earlier when Major Peake’s family and friends, including best man and former Army Air Corps buddy Ian Curry, waved goodbye to the astronaut. “He is looking forward to it and I think the whole country will be getting behind him”.