Tim Peake is about to make history as the first British person on board the International Space Station.
The launch is due to happen today at 11.03am with the rocket blasting off from Kazakhstan, at the Russia-operated Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Watch the historic launch below.
Major Peake is the first fully British astronaut.
Previous “Brits in space” have either had US or duel citizenship and worked for Nasa or been on privately funded or sponsored trips.
Major Peake is employed by the European Space Agency (ESA) and will be sporting the Union flag on his sleeve.
He will be on the ISS for six months and will partake in a variety of experiments - including a system designed to check for problems suffered by astronauts’ increased brain pressure during space missions.
Dr Robert Marchbanks has developed the device at the Hampshire hospital known as the cerebral and cochlear fluid pressure analyser.
It can detect life-threatening head injuries and infections without the need for surgery or painful spinal procedures and is currently part of a major study which could see it rolled out across the NHS.
