WILTSHIRE astronaut Tim Peake is to carry out the first ever spacewalk by a British astronaut, Nasa has confirmed.

Mr Peake and Nasa astronaut Tim Kopra will venture outside the International Space Station (ISS) on January 15 to replace a failed voltage regulator.

Mr Peake launched on a Russian rocket on December 15 to begin a six-month stay on the orbiting outpost.

The two Tims will don their spacesuits and exit the US Quest airlock to replace an electrical box known as a Sequential Shunt Unit (SSU), which regulates voltage from the station’s solar arrays.

The unit is relatively easy to replace and can be removed by undoing one bolt.

On Twitter, the British astronaut said he was “thrilled” to be assigned the spacewalk, adding: “Lots of work to do before Tim [Kopra] and I can open the hatch.”

The spacewalk is scheduled to start at 12:55 GMT and last for six-and-a-half hours.

Mr Peake was selected by the European Space Agency in 2009, and is the first British astronaut to fly into space since Helen Sharman spent a week on the Soviet space station Mir in May 1991. Her flight was privately funded, under Project Juno.