Tim Peake could end his retirement after just 9 MONTHS to lead the UK’s first team into space: British spaceman is tipped to be among crew of four – alongside the world’s first parastronaut and two female astronauts
- UK Space Agency is planning all-UK mission to the International Space Station
- READ MORE: MailOnline looks at Major Tim Peake’s greatest achievements
Just nine months after announcing his retirement, Major Tim Peake may be about to make a spectacular return to space.
According to reports, the legendary British astronaut will lead a four-person UK team to the International Space Station (ISS) sometime in the next few years.
Major Peake – known as the ‘first British spaceman’ – is set to be joined by the world’s first parastronaut, originally from Surrey, and two female astronauts.
The quartet will spend up to two weeks on the orbiting lab to carry out scientific research and demonstrate new technologies before flying home.
Peake, 51, famously spent six months on the ISS between 2015 and 2016, but his younger crewmates will be making their first trips into orbit.
Major Tim Peake, pictured here in his European Space Agency space suit, could make a spectacular return to space
The quartet will spend up to two weeks on the orbiting lab to carry out scientific research and demonstrate new technologies before flying home
READ MORE MailOnline looks at Tim Peake’s greatest achievements
Major Peake was the first British spaceman
The UK Space Agency has partnered with US firm Axiom Space for the mission, although they will officially be represented by the European Space Agency (ESA).
The agency confirmed to MailOnline that the mission is in the planning stages, but added that no date has been chosen and the crew has not been selected yet.
It’s likely the mission will require a seasoned astronaut to act as commander – with Major Peake the most obvious contender.
Peake, who has focused on ambassadorial work of late, acknowledged the mission on X (Twitter) as ‘exciting’, but did not address the reports that he would be on board.
Meanwhile, the most likely contenders for the three other spots are the Brits recently selected for the ESA’s astronaut programme in 2023.
They are John McFall, 42, a surgical trainee and Paralympic medallist; Meganne Christian, 35, a materials scientist originally from Kent; and Rosemary Coogan, 32, an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland.
McFall, who was filmed undergoing weightlessness training earlier in the year, had his right leg amputated following a motorcycle accident in Thailand in 2000.
He was fitted with a prosthesis and is now working with the ESA to investigate how such a disability could affect a stint in space.
Pictured: Members of ESA’s new class of UK astronauts Meganne Christian, John McFall and Rosemary Coogan
Mr Peake acknowledged the mission on X (Twitter) as ‘exciting’, but did not address the reports that he would be on board
The 51-year-old, from Chichester in Sussex, was selected as an ESA astronaut in 2009 and spent six months on the International Space Station from December 2015
UK Space Agency has just partnered with US firm Axiom Space for the mission. Pictured, Tejpaul Bhatia at Axiom Space (left) and Dr Paul Bate, chief executive of the UK Space Agency
Tim Peake’s journey to space
2008: Applied to the European Space Agency. Start of rigorous, year-long screening process
2009: Selected to join ESA’s Astronaut Corps and appointed an ambassador for UK science and space-based careers
2010: Completed 14 months of astronaut basic training
2011: Peake and five other astronauts joined a team living in caves in Sardinia for a week.
2012: Spent 10 days living in a permanent underwater base in Florida
2013: Assigned a six-month mission to the International Space Station
2015: Blasted off to the ISS
Rosemary Coogan, 32, is from Belfast but went to school in Brighton and has two masters degrees in physics from the University of Durham.
From a young age, she spent several weeks a year away from home onboard military training vessels and land bases as a Cadet Petty Officer with the Sea Cadets from 2002 to 2009.
Meanwhile, Meganne Christian, 35, was born in Kent but moved to Australia at a young age and studied at the University of New South Wales.
The materials scientist has worked at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna and as a researcher at Concordia Station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth.
There’s no concrete date for the mission, and considering such projects usually take between 18-24 months to come to fruition from the planning stages, it may not happen until 2025.
By this time, Major Peake will be 53 and would have to be in good physical shape to stop his place being taken.
Major Peake has already hinted at a return; when asked by James O’Brien during a recent podcast if he’d ever go back to space he replied ‘never say never’.
Peake said: ‘If you’d asked me that a year ago, I’d have said there perhaps weren’t a huge amount of opportunities.
‘Actually, right now, I think there’s more opportunity than I’ve even realized. There’s a lot happening in the commercial space sector.
‘It’s really a “never say never” – there are plenty of opportunities.’
View of the Soyuz TMA-19M rocket carrying Tim Peake, as well as Yuri Malenchenko and Tim Kopra, to the ISS in December 2015
Tim Peake, originally from Chichester in Sussex, was selected as an ESA astronaut back in 2009 and spent six months on the ISS from December 2015.
When he blasted off to the ISS, he became the first officially British spaceman, although he was not the first Briton in space.
It was back in 1991 when Sheffield-born chemist Helen Sharman not only became the first British spacewoman, but the first British person in space.
Before both Sharman and Peake had been into space, other UK-born men had done so through NASA’s space programme, thanks to acquiring US citizenship.
But Sharman and Peake are considered the first ‘official’ British people in space as they were both representing their country of birth.
Major Peake also became the first astronaut funded by the British government.
During his time on the ISS, he ran the London marathon and became the first person to complete a spacewalk while sporting a Union flag on his shoulder.
Meet the astronauts tipped to fly into space with Tim Peake
Three Britons – including the world’s first ever ‘parastronaut’ – are among the European Space Agency’s first new cohort of astronauts in almost 15 years.
In November 2022, John McFall, Rosemary Coogan and Meganne Christian were named in a class of 17 men and women chosen from a whopping 22,523 applicants.
They will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of current British astronaut Tim Peake, who spent six months on the International Space Station (ISS) almost a decade ago.
Here’s a closer look at the three adventurers, who may be joined by Major Peake himself on a trip to the ISS.
John McFall
Britain’s John McFall was named as the world’s first ‘parastronaut’ last November
John McFall, 42, is a British father-of-three, surgical trainee and Paralympic medallist.
Originally from Frimley in Surrey, Mr McFall had his right leg amputated following a motorcycle accident in Thailand in 2000.
He was fitted with a prosthesis and is now working with the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate how such a disability could affect a stint in space.
He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing among other honours, before retiring to take up his medical studies at Cardiff University.
He has put his medical career on hold to work with ESA and follow his ‘passion for science and life’.
Rosemary Theresa Coogan is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland
Rosemary Coogan
Rosemary Coogan, 32, is an astrophysicist originally from Belfast in Northern Ireland.
She attended school in Brighton and gained two master’s degrees from the University of Durham.
One of these focused on physics, mathematics, computer programming and astronomy, and the other on gamma-ray emission from black holes.
Coogan moved to the University of Sussex as a doctoral researcher, studying galaxy evolution and the activity of active galactic nuclei.
From a young age, she spent several weeks a year away from home onboard military training vessels and land bases as a Cadet Petty Officer with the Sea Cadets from 2002 to 2009.
Meganne studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia
Meganne Christian
Meganne Christian, 35, is a materials scientist graduate from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
She was born in Pembury in Kent but moved to Australia at a young age and attended Illawarra Grammar School in Wollongong.
She said she was inspired to become an astronaut when one visited her school.
The materials scientist has worked at the National Research Council of Italy in Bologna and as a researcher at Concordia Station in Antarctica, one of the most remote places on Earth.
According to ESA, Meganne received several national awards for outstanding research in the field of engineering and industrial chemistry.
In addition to British and Italian citizenship, she also holds Australian and New Zealand citizenship.
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