Tim Peake to quit retirement to lead UK’s first astronaut mission

Tim Peake, 51, will lead the UK mission being developed by Axiom, a US company that organises visits to the International Space Station. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

The last British astronaut to go into space is to come out of retirement to lead the UK’s first astronaut mission.

Tim Peake, 51, who will be leading the mission, last flew to the International Space Station (ISS) as a European Space Agency astronaut in 2015.