The Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay will, for the first time ever, take a trip to the international space station.

The torch, which will not be lit for safety reasons, will be launched from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M.

Once in space Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryazansky and Oleg Kotov, will take the torch on a space walk.

The torch will then make the journey back to earth with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin.

The torch relay, which is due to begin 7 October, will travel 65,000km (40,389m) across 2,900 towns in Russia with officials stating that 90 per cent of the Russian population will be at most an hour away from the relay.

The torch will also travel to the bottom of Lake Baikal, which is the world's oldest and deepest lake at 25-million years and 1,642 m (5,387 ft) respectively.

The four month relay will be the longest in Winter Games history with more than 14,000 torch-bearers carrying the flame through 83 Russian regions and it will also travel via various methods including car, train, plane, troika and reindeer sleigh.