British astronaut Tim Peake prepares for liftoff to International Space Station

Peake and his two colleagues are already on board Soyuz rocket as final countdown to liftoff begins

British astronaut Tim Peake will make his landmark flight to the International Space Station on Tuesday morning after two weeks in quarantine, six years of preparation and 6,000 hours of intense training.

Peake's family, including his wife, their two young sons and his parents, will be watching from the observation site a mile from the launchpad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as the Soyuz rocket lifts off carrying the first Briton to join the European Space Agency's astronaut corps.