Friday 15 January 2016 10:27 am

Tim Peake spacewalk: Watch live as the International Space Station resident becomes the first British astronaut to walk in space

Astronaut Major Tim Peake will become the first British astronaut (rather than British person working as a US astronaut) to go on a spacewalk later this afternoon, as he ventures out to make vital repairs to the International Space Station (ISS)

The first Briton to go on a spacewalk was Michael Foale in 1995 – but he was representing the US under Nasa.

Peake is set to step outside the ISS, 250 miles above earth, wearing a white space suit to protect him from the harsh environment of space. He'll head into space at 12.55pm, and will stay outside the ISS for around six hours.

Peake will undertake the spacewalk with Tim Kopra, a US astronaut working for Nasa. Both astronauts, along with captain Yuri Malachenko, were propelled to the ISS by the Soyuz spacecraft, exactly a month ago.

The first spacewalk was completed by US astronauts Jerry Ross and James Newman. Peake’s spacewalk marks the 192nd spacewalk event in history.

Peake, who is a European Space Agency astronaut, said: ”I think a spacewalk is absolutely the pinnacle of an astronaut's career”

"We've put a huge amount of effort into this spacewalk. It's hugely exciting and we're ready to go."

Peake received an outpouring of support and attention when he blasted into space in December. On Christmas day, he received more media attention after he accidentally dialled the wrong number, greeting an unsuspecting woman with the words, “Hello, is this planet Earth?”. He later apologised on Twitter and said it wasn’t a prank call, just a wrong number.

I'd like to apologise to the lady I just called by mistake saying 'Hello, is this planet Earth?' – not a prank call…just a wrong number!

— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) December 24, 2015