On Tuesday, the former helicopter pilot will launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

He will be accompanied by crew members American Tim Kopra and Russian Yuri Malenchenko.

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

Launch is set for 11:03 GMT from Site 1 at Baikonur, the pad where Yuri Gagarin made the first historic human spaceflight in 1961. The Soyuz space capsule is due to dock with the space station at 17:23 GMT.

Mr Peake is the first UK astronaut to fly under the banner of the European Space Agency (Esa).