PIONEERING BRITISH ASTRONAUT MAJOR TIM PEAKE APPLAUDS THE KING'S MISSION TO MAKE SPACE TRAVEL SUSTAINABLE

The King's quest to protect the planet from environmental destruction has been one of his greatest passions for over five decades.

But he has a more out-of-this-world mission, too: to clean up outer space.

Speaking to HELLO! at the Prince's Trust Invest in Futures gala dinner last week, Major Tim Peake, the first British astronaut to walk in space on a European Space Agency (ESA) mission, told us: "His Majesty's goal is to make space as clean and sustainable as possible, an initiative he began, which is very close to my heart as well.

"Removing debris from space is high on the agenda, as is ensuring we're responsible in the fuels we use and making them as clean as possible. Most of our climate data comes from space, so it's a really valuable source of information, and working on these clean energy schemes is really important.

"The King is always at the forefront of what's going on in engineering, technology and the environment. These are areas he's very enthusiastic about and where we're trying to make leaps forward."

SEAL OF APPROVAL