Britain's first 'official' astronaut set for space mission

London: Britain's first "official" astronaut, Major Tim Peake, has been chosen to take part in a five-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS).

The 41-year-old, who graduated as a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut, has been chosen to complete the lengthy stay in orbit in 2015, when he will be blasted into space on a Russian Soyuz rocket and take part in spacewalks and other complex scientific research.

The married father-of-two is considered Britain's first official spaceman as previous UK citizens have either secured private funding or have taken out American citizenship to make it into orbit.

He completed his training in November 2010 and has since been waiting to be assigned a space flight.

"It doesn't get frustrating at all," the former Army helicopter pilot told the BBC in reference to the long wait.

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"There's just so much going on, so much diversity, and there's brilliant training all along the way," added the astronaut, who also wants to become the first Briton to walk on the moon.

Major Peake, who served for 18 years in the British Army including terms in Bosnia, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan, beat more than 8,000 other hopefuls to be selected for ESA in 2009 along with five other colleagues from across Europe.

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The appointment marked a change in British government policy as the cost of putting a man into space - about £18 million - had previously been considered too expensive.

"Following initiatives put in place several years ago, at last this has come about with a flight slot to the International Space Station (ISS) for Tim Peake," said Nick Spall of the British Interplanetary Society, which has been campaigning for years for the change in government policy.

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"This will really help boost the UK's technical employment potential for jobs and industry. Human space flight is a win-win initiative for the UK," he told the 'Sunday Telegraph'.

The first Briton in space was Sheffield-born chemist Helen Sharman. She had to secure private funding to fly to the Mir space station on a Russian Soyuz craft in 1991. Three British-born astronauts have flown into space under an American flag: Michael Foale, Piers Sellers and Nicholas Patrick.