PIONEERING British astronaut Tim Peake has docked with the International Space Station (ISS) – six-hours after blasting off from a remote Kazakhstan rocket launching site.

The whole of Britain was filled with pride as he become the first Briton to join the crew of the ISS, orbiting Earth, with the TV spectacle of the launch televised live.

However, one Perthshire family were especially delighted after their ‘Uncle Tim’ embarked on his six month mission.

The army major's wife Rebecca, who was in Kazakhstan to watch her husband with their sons, Thomas, six, and Oliver, four, but grew up in Comrie, watched the take-off at 11.03am UK time from a special viewing area near the launch pad.

Back in Comrie, her brother Duncan King said: “We are all quite emotional. We have been in touch with the rest of the family but to see it has just been amazing.

"It seems like a long time ago that we found out that he’d be going up into space.”

Father of two Mr King took his five year old daughter Lucy out of school in order to watch Peake blast into space.

Mr King said: “They are at a difficult age. My son is two and a half but he can point out ‘Uncle Tim’ on the telly. My daughter Lucy is five and very excited, but she doesn’t understand fully. We took her out of school today to be with the family, but she said that she wanted to be with her friends!”

Comrie residents also celebrated 43-year-old Peake's achievements, with a launch party at the Comrie Community Centre last night.

In Glasgow around 500 school children watched the live event in the auditorium at the science centre.

He said: “Everybody is really excited. I was up getting the newspaper and a few people in the shop were talking about the launch. It is so nice that Comrie has a connection to the launch. It has a good community spirit and everyone’s pleased for Tim.”

Mr King's parents Maddy and John were also among those present in Kazakhstan..

He said: “My parents do a lot of travelling but they haven’t been to Russia or Kazakhstan before. They were very excited about going and are very proud. They haven’t talked about anything else.”

Rebecca and Tim, who are based in Texas, try to come back to Scotland often with their two children.

Mr King said: “I don’t think they get to come over as much as they’d like. They come over when they can, usually about twice a year. I think they’d like to live here but it’s not practical.”

Mr King and the rest of the family hopes that Peake will pay a visit Comrie after his return to Earth in June next year.

Major Peake, 43, and his crew companions, Russian Commander Yuri Malenchenko and US astronaut Tim Kopra, entered the tiny Soyuz TMA-19 space capsule capping the top of the rocket two and half hours before the launch.

When they docked with the ISS, Peake was the second astronaut aboard.

Britain's star astronaut gave a live link to family and friends viewing the drama on a cinema screen in a Baikonur theatre, Kazakhstan. He said of the journey: "It was a beautiful launch, that sunrise was absolutely spectacular. We also got the benefit of a moon rise which was beautiful to see.

"To Europe and the UK, I hope you enjoyed the show."

Rebecca told him: "There were quite a few parties down on the ground, so your launch was well celebrated by everybody down here. Have a great mission. We love you."

Conditions were perfect with clear, blue skies and hardly a breath of wind.

At blast-off, the rocket generated 422.5 tonnes of thrust - equivalent to 26 million horse power.

Mrs Peake was heard to say: "Wasn't it an amazing sight? I had the biggest smile on my face."

Former army aviator and helicopter test pilot Peake's mission, Prinicipia, in homage to Sir Isaac Newton's ground-breaking text on gravity and motion, will last almost six months.

Close friend Claire Curry, whose husband Ian was Major Peake's best man, was offering people nips of whisky from a small flask.

She said: "It was totally brilliant. Just seeing that take-off was awesome.

"I loved the little signature smoke-ring they left."

Earlier outside Major Peake's hotel, the Cosmonaut, it had all proved too much for Oliver. Balanced on the shoulders of Rebecca's father, he wailed and cried out: "I want to go with daddy."