Save the date: this year’s annual ESA Open Day in the Netherlands will take place on Sunday 8 October, at the Agency’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk. Registration to attend will be opened later this summer; keep an eye on this webpage and social media for further details.

This will be the 12th annual ESA Open Day in the Netherlands. The venue will be our European Space Research and Technology Centre, ESTEC, which is the largest space establishment in Europe, offering visitors to the chance to meet space engineers and astronauts and see actual space hardware.

This year’s theme is ‘Science Fiction Gets Real’, highlighting how science fiction has inspired scientists and engineers to join ESA, and turn once imaginary concepts into science fact.

Trying out space mission design Trying out space mission design Taking place as part of the NL Space Campus’s Space Week, the ESA Open Day is also partnering with Dutch Weekend van de Wetenschap.

ESTEC’s year-round visitor centre Space Expo will also be open for the Open Day while Space Rocks will have a full roster of events, to celebrate the art and culture of science and space.

The NL Space tent will present cutting-edge work done by the Dutch space sector while the Netherlands Space Office, NSO, will be launching its new Moonshots NL ’24 initiative, giving Dutch students the chance to work on space exploration projects along with actual astronauts.

Each year thousands of visitors attend the ESA Open Days in the Netherlands. Sunday’s general Open Day is preceded by an Open Day for people with a disability on Saturday, the day before, allowing visitors to explore the sprawling site at their own pace – because space is for everyone!