The UK Space Agency has announced an agreement with Vast – a US commercial space company – that could send British astronaut John McFall into orbit as early as 2027. If the mission goes ahead, he would become the first person with a physical disability to live and work in space. McFall, who lost his right leg above the knee in a motorcycle accident at 19 and uses a prosthesis, is a former Paralympic sprinter, a practising NHS surgeon and a qualified European Space Agency (ESA) reserve astronaut.