Bowmer and Kirkland has been appointed to deliver the first phase of the Space Park building at the University of Leicester.

The North-east-based contractor has won the £14m first phase of the £66m project to house space and earth observation sciences research facilities.

The building, to be delivered under a design-and-build contract in phase one, is a 5,000 sq m facility for teaching, offices and laboratories.

Within the site, the manner in which satellites are conceived, designed, operated and produced will be “revolutionised”, according to a previous statement on its delivery.

In July the centre was awarded £13.75m from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund.

At the time, Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership Board chair Kevin Harris said: “The aim is to build a world-class centre of space research and innovation, which will be at the centre of the United Kingdom’s space technology industry for decades to come.

“The project is a true collaboration between academia, business and government – both local and national – as we harness the space industry to benefit our region and the wider UK.”

The facility is next door to the National Space Centre museum.