As the day progresses this page will give an overview of what has happened, in reverse order… To find out what will be next head over to our detailed launch timeline.
Hatch opening at 19:58 GMT
Docking at 17:33 GMT
Visual contact of Soyuz TMA-19M:
Sixth of six smaller impulse burns to orient with the International Space Station at 16:58 GMT
Fifth of six smaller impulse burns to orient with the International Space Station at 16:55 GMT
Visual contact with International Space Station:
Fourth of six smaller impulse burns to orient with the International Space Station at 16:50 GMT
Soyuz closes to 15 km from Space Station
Third of six smaller impulse burns to orient with the International Space Station at 16:08 GMT
Soyuz 200 km from Space Station.
Second of six smaller impulse burns to orient with the International Space Station at 15:44 GMT
First of six smaller impulse burns to orient with the International Space Station at 15:24 GMT
Commence automatic rendezvous at 15:15 GMT
Fourth orbit burn to catch up with the International Space Station at 14:19 GMT
Third orbit burn to catch up with the International Space Station at 13:31 GMT
First contact with the astronauts in space at 12:34. They confirmed the engine firings went as planned and tested the manual control system.
Second orbit burn to catch up with the International Space Station at 12:32 GMT
First orbit burn to catch up with the International Space Station at 11:48 GMT
Liftoff at 11:03 GMT!
Liftoff! Credits: ESA-S. Corvaja
The service structure that helped fuelling and getting the astronauts to the top of the rocket was retracted at 10:20 GMT.
Inside the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft the trio checked for leaks and prepared for launch. Tim Peake is sitting to the commander’s right with Tim Kopra on commander Yuri Malenchenko’s left.”
Yuri and Tim Kopra
Tim Peake
The crew arrived in their Sokol pressure suits at the launchpad by bus and quickly went into the lift that took them to their spacecraft at 8:30 GMT
Fuelling the Soyuz rocket started at 06:04 GMT
Soyuz rocket. Credits: ESA-S. Corvaja
Tim Peake left the hotel and signed the room door to don his Sokol suit.
Traditional door signing before launch. Credits: ESA-S. Corvaya
Discussion: 6 comments
Good luck Tim from all the pupils at Our lady of Ransom School, Rayleigh !
Good luck Tim P, Tim K and Yuri from Molly and her Dad in Düsseldorf.
The children of St John’s Catholic Primary School are looking forward to planting the seeds that you take with you on your space adventure!!
Good Luck Tim!
From all the year 5 children at Fishponds CE Academy, Bristol!
We can’t wait to watch the launch and follow your mission on the ISS
🙂
good luck man
Have a great trip. Looking forward to seeing A LOT about the ISS over the coming months. 😉