British astronaut Tim Peake joins colleagues on International Space Station

British astronaut Tim Peake and his companions on the Principia space mission have emerged from the Soyuz capsule and joined their new co-workers on the International Space Station (ISS).

The first fully British astronaut to be sent into space, Major Peake, 43, Russian Commander Yuri Malenchenko and US astronaut Tim Kopra, have now joined the station's team of three for the next six months.

But the team will spend the rest of their first evening getting in touch with their families back on Earth and undergoing safety briefings, after enjoying their first meal together since lift off this morning.

They blasted off in the Russian Soyuz TMA-19 capsule shortly after 11.00 GMT in Kazakhstan as they embarked on the six-hour journey through space.