Leicester school children among the first to visit multi-million pound Space Park

It cost 100 million pounds, took 12 months to build and Space Park Leicester opened its doors to the public today.

The centre will act as a research, innovation, and teaching hub for high tech companies and researchers in the space industry. 

Among the first visitors were school children from Queensmead Primary Academy in Leicester who it's hoped will be inspired to pursue a career in science and technology.

They were taking part in workshops at the new Space Park Leicester which opened its doors for the first time to the public today.

And within just a few hours they were learning about the wonders of our solar system.

Construction of Space Park Leicester has been long in the planning.

Costing 100 million pounds to build, it will act as a hub for innovation & teaching for researchers and high-tech companies working in the space sector.

Visitors to the Park will also get the chance to learn about the role its played in the development of the James Webbe Space Telescope.

Due for launch next month, it'll replace the current Hubble telescope.

Piyal Samara-Ratna was one of the engineers who helped build what will be the most powerful science telescope ever constructed.

He said: "I think there will be real excitement and real fear as well there's still so much that can go wrong."

Space Park Leicester will officially be opened next Spring by British astronaut Tim Peake.