An aerospace company and a planetarium in West Lothian are teaming up ahead of the creation of an aviation, astronomy and space centre in Kinross.

The partnership between Aero Space Scientific Educational Trust (ASSET) and Cosmos Planetarium aims to deliver astronomy skills to school pupils.

The duo behind Cosmos Planetarium — Steven Gray and James Green — have been running cosmic out-reach programmes across Scotland and the North of England for several years, bringing their astronomy skills to primary and secondary schools, as well as numerous events and festivals around the UK.

Alisdair Stewart, chairman of ASSET, said: “We are enjoying a very positive start to 2018 for our Aero Space Kinross (ASK) project development (www.aerospacekinross.com), and we are thrilled to be merging Cosmos Planetarium into ASK.

"This recognises the immense skill set that Steven and James will bring to the astronomy element of our ambitions, and it shows real business confidence as we move into the crucial capital funding stage.

Building awareness of ASK is vital in the coming months, and the dynamic out-reach programme run by Cosmos Planetarium represents an opportunity to tell our story throughout the UK.”

Mr Gray said: “This is a very exciting move for us; we see it as a dynamic development that can bring great results, as the ASK project grows.

“We have been running our bespoke shows in the planetarium for nearly four years now, annually engaging with over 10,000 people of all ages, and this is a distinct opportunity to continue to raise awareness of the project.”