ESA astronaut Tim Peake's capsule on permanent display at Science Museum; future ISS mission announced!

New Delhi: European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Tim Peake spent six months in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a part of NASA's Expedition 46/47 crew, last year.

Now, the UK's Secretary of State for Business Greg Clarke has announced that Peake will be heading back to the space station for another mission.

Furthermore, on Thursday, the Russian Soyuz capsule that carried Tim Peake on his way back to Earth was unveiled at the Science Museum in central London, where it will now be on permanent display.

It was during this unveiling ceremony that Clarke revealed Peake's upcoming mission. "Tim Peake will be returning to space aboard the ISS," he told journalists. "The space sector is an important and growing part of the UK space agency," The Telegraph UK reported.

Jan Woerner, director of the European Space Agency, also confirmed that the British astronaut would be returning in the near future.

Britains first official astronaut's vehicle during his descent to Earth is an important part of UK space history and hopes it will inspire the public, the museum said.

As per BBC, the Soyuz TMA-19M has been refurbished, but is still slightly singed from re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

Science Museum director Ian Blatchford told BBC News the spacecraft was almost an “impulse buy” after enquiring whether it was for sale while in Moscow over the summer.

According to The Telegraph UK, Tim Peake said: "It's amazing that it still bears the scorch marks of our entry into the atmosphere at 1,600C, which was punishing.

"The capsule was tightly packed. It's one of the only times in my life that I was grateful for being 5ft 8in."

According to reports, the second space mission for Tim Peake is being scheduled during the period from 2019 to 2024.