Major Timothy Nigel “Tim” Peake CMGis a British Army Air Corps officer, European Space Agency astronaut and a former International Space Station (ISS) crew member.
He is the first British ESA astronaut, the second astronaut to bear a flag of the United Kingdom patch (the first was Helen Sharman, who visited Mir as part of Project Juno in 1991), the sixth person born in the United Kingdom to go on board the International Space Station and the seventh UK-born person in space. He began the ESA's intensive astronaut basic training course in September 2009 and graduated on 22 November 2010.
Early life
Peake was born in Chichester, Sussex, on 7 April 1972. He grew up in Westbourne, West Sussex. He studied at the Chichester High School for Boys, leaving in 1990 to attend the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
Career
Military and aeronautical
Upon graduation from Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Peake received a short-service commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps on 8 August 1992. He served as a platoon commander with the Royal Green Jackets, and was promoted to lieutenant on 8 August 1994. On 9 July 1997, he transferred to a regular commission, receiving a promotion to captain on 20 August.
Peake became a qualified helicopter pilot in 1994 and a qualified helicopter instructor in 1998, graduating from CFS(H) at the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire. Promoted to major on 31 July 2004, he graduated from the Empire Test Pilots School in Wiltshire the following year, and was awarded the Westland's Trophy for best rotary wing student. He then served on Rotary Wing Test and Evaluation Squadron (RWTES) at MOD Boscombe Down completing trials on Apache helicopters.
Peake completed a BSc (Hons) in Flight Dynamics and Evaluation at the University of Portsmouth the following year. Peake left the army in 2009 after 17 years of service and over 3,000 flying hours to his credit, becoming a test pilot with AgustaWestland.
Personal life
Peake is married to Rebecca, with whom he has two sons, and enjoys climbing, caving, cross-country running and triathlon.
When he was younger Peake was a Cub Scout and is now an ambassador for the Prince's Trust and the Scout Association in the UK.
Awards
In May 2021, as part of its 150th-anniversary celebrations, the Institution of Engineering and Technology awarded Peake an Honorary Fellowship for his outstanding contribution to space exploration and the engineering and technology industry.
