Star gazer Simon Cowell

Simon Cowell has installed a "space room" in his American home.

A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Simon is fascinated with all things space-related, and has been for some time. After reading up on the subject, he decided to create a special 'space room'.

"At a touch of a button, the ceiling slides back giving an incredible view of the skies. It is absolutely beautiful at night."

Simon finds the room in his luxurious home - which he moved into in April - very relaxing and the 'X Factor' chief finds it "therapeutic" to spend hours studying the sky.

The source added: "Simon loves nothing more than relaxing in the evening with his telescope, staring up at the stars. He finds it incredibly therapeutic."

Simon previously admitted he would "love" to go on Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic commercial space flight and considered buying a ticket for the 'Britain's Got Talent' winner as part of their prize.

He said: "This is worth tens of millions of pounds, but Richard genuinely is up for doing it. I'm being serious. You could be the first singer or dog act, whatever, performing in space.

"I would go on the spaceship myself - you have to have a lot of training.

"I love the idea that, if they are up for it, then they have the option of performing in front of the whole planet in space."