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All the Netherlands Noordwijk European Space Research and Technology Centre

European Space Research and Technology Centre

The birthplace of most all of Europe's space missions is here on the Dutch coast.

Noordwijk, Netherlands

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ESTEC aerial view   ESA
Mars rover with cardboard rocks, on Katwijk beach near ESTEC   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
ESTEC aerial view   ESA
Rovers in Mars Yard at ESTEC Planetary Robotics Lab   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
Satelite models can be found inside   CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
Giove-a, the first Galileo satellite, is prepared for testing at ESTEC.   ESA
Erasmus human spaceflight centre on ESTEC Open Day   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
ESTEC entrance road   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
Rosetta at ESTEC Test Centre in 2000   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
Closing large space simulator access door   http://sci.esa.int/planck/39687-closing-of...
3D printed antenna   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
Two Galileo FOC satellites at ESTEC Test Centre   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
Rosetta   CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
Vulcain rocket motor on display at Space Expo   http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/20...
  CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
  CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
  CoolCrab / Atlas Obscura User
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About

While the European Space Agency has centers in many different countries, the beating heart of the Europe’s space program is here in the unassuming town of Noordwijk in the western Netherlands. This remote sciencetown is where the future of space exploration is being written, built and tested.

The European Space Research and Technology Centre, or ESTEC, is the largest ESA center in Europe. Founded in 1968, it's located on the Dutch coast in South Holland, about 35 kilometres (21 miles) southwest of Amsterdam. 

You can think of ESTEC as an aerospace incubator, a research and development hub that lays the groundwork for most of the agency’s projects and missions, including the Rosetta space probe, and human spaceflight to the Moon, Mars and beyond.

The facility includes an extensive test center for testing spacecraft and satellites before they’re launched into orbit. In fact nearly all of the equipment that ESA launches is tested in some part at ESTEC before it’s sent into space. Before humans’ first rendezvous with a comet, the Rosetta spacecraft and its Philae lander were tested in simulated space conditions here.

About 2,500 people work at the center as scientists, engineers and technicians. The center even has its own police, fire brigade and ambulances. ESTEC is open free to the public once a year, in October. However next door to the technical facility you’ll find the Space Expo, which acts as ESTEC’s visitors center. From there you can schedule tours to take the "Space Train" to visit ESTEC. Space Expo also features a space exploration year-round.

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Space Exploration Science Technology

Know Before You Go

If you are in Noordwijk or close, visit the compound and walk around it. They will not let you in, but you can see a lot. If you can, visit during the open day in October. The compound is well guarded and off limits for visitors, apart from one day a year in October where they open their gates to the public, for free.

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CoolCrab

Edited By

Meg

  • Meg

Published

June 9, 2016

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  • http://sci.esa.int/multimedia-gallery/30913-multimedia-archive/
  • http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages
  • http://www.esa.int/About_Us/Welcome_to_ESA/ESA_history/History_ESTEC_Noordwijk_1966
  • http://www.space-expo.nl/en
  • https://www.facebook.com/pages/European-Space-Research-and-Technology-Centre/108572292503413
  • http://www.britannica.com/topic/European-Space-Research-and-Technology-Centre
European Space Research and Technology Centre
1 Keplerlaan
Noordwijk, 2201 AZ
Netherlands
52.215726, 4.417638
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