Denmark's first astronaut is in space.

Earlier today the European Space Agency (ESA) launched its latest rocket.

Inside was ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, commander Sergei Volkov and Aidyn Aimbetov.

Their rocket was launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 04:37:43 GMT.

The launch marks the start of ESA’s 10-day iriss mission that will focus on testing new technologies and ways of running complex space missions.

The astronaut’s Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft entered orbit as planned.

During lift-off, the rocket accelerated by 50 km/h every second - that continued for the first nine minutes of the launch.

The spacecraft separated from the Soyuz launcher two hours after lift-off.