A teenager from Tower Hamlets had exclusive access to a space launch in Florida after winning a Scouts competition and impressing astronaut Major Tim Peake.

Simon Shemetilo, 16, joined Craig Alexander, 14, from Reading, at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida as the Inmarsat I-6 F2 satellite launched successfully into orbit.

They were awarded the once-in-a-lifetime prize for their ideas to improve life on Earth with novel satellite technology, and were chosen out of hundreds of UK entries by Maj Peake, who is Scouts’ Ambassador.

“We got to the launch pad in pitch black darkness, and we waited,” Simon said.

“Then suddenly a bright light, and it just felt like it was the dawn again, it’s completely silent for the first few seconds, and then you start to feel a thunder sensation and the building started to shake.”

Craig said they stood “the closest that you could be” to the launch site.

The pair were chosen from hundreds of competition entries around the UK to answer the question: “how do you think satellites in space will help improve life on Earth in the future?”

Following Saturday’s launch, the Inmarsat satellite travelled to its testing position 22,000 miles above the Equator where it will assist in developing upgraded global communication services.