The Imperial War Museum Duxford, one of the largest aviation museums in Europe, is launching a £19m redevelopment programme with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The ambitious Air Space project will be the new central exhibition of the museum, and will map the progress of Britain's aerospace and aviation industry.

The exhibition will be housed by one of the existing hangars, and will focus not just upon traditional aviation but also the directions that the aerospace industry might move to in future, particularly targeting the 50,000 annual educational visitors for which a specialist educational centre will be constructed as well as a dedicated area for the conservation and restoration of large aircraft.

The Heritage Lottery Fund will finance nearly half of the development - contributing £9m with another substantial investment coming from Bae Systems, which will commit £5m over the next five years. The remainder will be found by the museum itself over the four-year construction period.

Duxford currently welcomes around 400,000 visitors a year. Director Ted Inman was confident that the project is a sound financial investment: The Heritage Lottery Fund will see a high value return on their investment in this very successful heritage site.