Europa-Park and ESA Sign Memorandum of Understanding

(eap) Earlier this week, Europa-Park and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding, thereby officially confirming their future cooperation. The agreement is said to focus on the shared objective of communicating the fascination of European spaceflight in an accessible, interactive and emotional way, as well as supporting European cooperation and public outreach.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Rust, Germany, by Europa-Park owner Dr Roland Mack and Dr Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Operations and Head of the European Space Operations Centre ESOC in Darmstadt. Densing represented ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher at the signing. Also present were Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space, and Dietmar Pilz, ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality, among others.

The cooperation is intended to combine the areas of education, knowledge transfer and experience design. Plans are said to include educational offerings, events and further experience formats designed to make spaceflight, research and technology tangible for visitors of all ages, particularly for families with children. The cooperation is also expected to play a role in Europa-park’s planned space-themed area, which is scheduled to be developed in place of the existing “Euro-Mir” roller coaster by 2028.

In this context, both ESA and Europa-Park refer to their European identity and their ambition to make cross-border cooperation, innovation and future-oriented topics visible. There had already been points of contact between the two partners in the past, for example in the context of events such as the “Science Days” at Europa-Park or the “ESA Open Days”. ■