Tim was selected as an ESA astronaut in May 2009. Along with his five ESA classmates, he graduated from astronaut basic training in November 2010. Tim spent three years conducting further training and working as a communicator with the International Space Station prior to his assignment to a long-duration mission in 2013.
Tim was the first British ESA astronaut to visit the International Space Station, launching on a Soyuz rocket on 15 December 2015 with crewmates Tim Kopra and Yuri Malenchenko.
He is now working at ESA's European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, as Astronaut Operations Team Lead.