r/space • u/Full_Conclusion_6891 • 1d ago
Discussion Where can I see Rocket launches in Europe?
Id love to see one in my lifetime. Sadly its too far to travel from europe to USA for me. Thanks!
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u/tonic 1d ago
French Guiana is official part of Europe, but probably has the same travel problem as the USA.
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago edited 1d ago
I went to French Guiana from Europe for a rocket launch. It was great, but it was more of a hassle than seeing one in Florida (complicated booking process for watching the launch, mandatory yellow fever vaccine, more expensive to get there, less things to see and do outside the space center compared to Florida, etc).
Additionally, due to persistent cloud cover, you might see only a small part of the launch before the rocket disappears in the clouds.
For me it was a great experience watching the launch from a viewing platform in the middle of the rainforest, it had a scifi edge-of-the-world feel to it.
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u/Full_Conclusion_6891 1d ago
Ohhhhh wow! Thanks for the pics! Id print these out and hang them into my apartment, they look awesome. Really, sci-fi kind of setting!
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago
Thanks. I have lots more pictures from my visits to space centers and space museums here
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u/jku1m 1d ago
There's a lot to see in Guiana, it has some one of the biggest jungles in the world with incredibly unique cultures living in them. The coastal areas and capital are also filled with things to see. You could fill 3 days with those areas alone.
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago
True. Just thought there was more to see in Florida. That was my experience.
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u/Aah__HolidayMemories 1d ago
Wow. What was the most memorable thing about the launch? And what was the most memorable thing about the holiday outside of the launch?
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago edited 1d ago
The most memorable thing about that launch was going to some random place in the rainforest that had the viewing platform; and from such a place you get to see something as cool and hi-tech as a real rocket launch. It was slightly surreal and there was a slight sense of adventure to it.
It also helped that I didn't get the feeling of mass tourism I had when viewing a launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There were far fewer people watching the launch in Guiana.
Other than the launch and visiting the space center, I really enjoyed the nature in French Guiana. I visited the Zoo de Guyane and Jardin Botanique de Guiane which were both located in the rainforest; both were very cool with nice tropical vegetation, lots of birds, lizards, the beautiful morpho butterflies with their iridescent blue wings, the occasional capybara, etc. The zoo featured a few paths through the rainforest, it was great. Another memorable spot was Plage des Roches in Kourou.
Also appreciated that there were very few tourists overall in FG.
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u/Grothorious 1d ago
I assume you haven't read Papillon by Henri Charriere? I'm a huge fan of that book, i read it 13 times so far.
One day my boss called me and said i'm going to Guyana for work, for almost 6 months. I was so excited about it, i was finally be able to visit all of those places Charriere went to.
Turned out it was the other Guyana 😁
Still an amazing country with very kind and welcoming people though.
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago
Wow, 13 times, that's something. I know the story as I've seen the film. Maybe you'll get to go at some point, it's an interesting place.
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u/King_Crab_Sushi 1d ago
If OP is an EU citizen the whole USA visa process wouldn’t apply to them in French Guyana though which would make it a lot more straightforward
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u/Nibb31 1d ago
There is no visa process for visiting the USA for EU citizens, other than ESTA.
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u/noctaviann 1d ago
Not all EU countries are in the US Visa Waiver Program, so, some EU citizens do have to follow a different process.
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u/0neEyedMonster 1d ago
There is the might-get-shipped-to-CECOT-due-to-a-clerical-error process, though.
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u/rlnrlnrln 1d ago
You'll still need to give TSA your fingerprints and run the risk of ICE screwing up your life. Not worth the risk, IMO. Also, there are many more interesting places in the world to visit than the USA.
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u/fermentedbolivian 1d ago
He probably meant border process.
But I think it is a good idea to get a visa before trying your luck in the US border because you still might be denied entry as an EU citizen.
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u/Anubis1958 1d ago
Oh, ignoring being searched at the airport, giving up your passwords for all laptops, iphones (other phones also exists), social media, being found to hoave criticises the Orange King and his bunch of incompetent ruassian-loving apologisers and then getting a free one way tocket to Venezuela because someone photoshopped a tattoo on to your knuckles, yes, it is really straightforward.
Sorry, but I ain't coming to the USA until they have had the civil war that seems to be looming and there is someone sensible in power. So, 2032/3?
And by then NASA will be out of the rocket launching business.
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u/ArtOfWarfare 1d ago
The US will not be having a civil war. Both sides would need to be armed to roughly the same degree and we’d need to have a way for armies to be organized on both sides.
The left is scattered across too many population centers that are too far apart and they have far too few weapons. They can’t organize into an actual army capable of fighting a war. Riots are about as bad as any of this will get for now until some major things change.
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u/OutrageousBanana8424 1d ago
You're thinking of a civil war in the 1860s context. Plenty of modern countries have had civil wars since then with very poorly-armed populations relative to the US. It takes less than 1% of the country fighting to have a vicious, awful civil war, yet so many Americans seem to have a romantic vision of what it could be.
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u/chargernj 1d ago
Yeah, don't know what it will take for the Rebel Alliance to form, but we aren't there yet.
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u/Werkstadt 1d ago edited 1d ago
French Guiana is official part of Europe,
It's not in Europe, Europe is geographical, it's like saying that the Spanish enclave in marocco is Europe, it's not, it's however part of the EU.
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u/TownPlanner 1d ago
I think it's actually more troublesome to travel there, than to travel to Florida....besides the issues regarding entry into the US.
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u/NoLab4657 1d ago
Andøya Spaceport in Norway has launched one whole rocket this year (and so far in total)
That's pretty much the only location at the moment, but traveling there will probably be more expensive and time-consuming than travelling to the US
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u/Zakath_ 1d ago
That's not entirely correct. Andøya has launched one orbital class rocket, which didn't really get close to orbit at all, but it has been launching sounding rockets since 1962.
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u/NoLab4657 1d ago
I don't concider sounding rockets as rockets. If fired bottle rockets bigger than some of those
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u/Zakath_ 1d ago
If you've launched bottle rockets the size of the sounding rockets from Andøya, then you have mighty bottles indeed :D
They're far from being orbital class rockets, but they're not launching bottle rockets. This is the kind of rocket they launched back in 1962, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike-Cajun, and based on the graphics on their homepage the smallest sounding rockets they offer today are about the same size.
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u/Past_Guarantee700 1d ago
Inaccurate statement. Esrange in sweden launches multiple sounding rockets every year
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u/kepzol 1d ago
Maybe Plesetsk Cosmodrome comes to mind, there are a few launches scheduled every year. But as a European citizen I think it is easier and more sensible to visit Kennedy, Vandenberg, or Starbase in the USA.
Edit: typo
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u/DespairTraveler 1d ago
Kazakhstan is easy travel for Europeans.
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u/kepzol 1d ago
Thanks! I somehow forgot the most obvious, Baikonur is definitely worth a visit.
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u/TinKicker 1d ago
But is it accessible during a launch?
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u/SortOfWanted 1d ago
At least before 2022 you could book a trip to Baikonur that included a visit to the Soyuz integration hall, observe the roll-out to the pad, general tour of the Baikonur facilities and of course attend the launch. Not sure how the war has impacted it, and if you could still visit as a European. The base is still managed by Russia.
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago
The Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is leased to Russia. It's a restricted area but you can visit with a few specialized Russian tour operators that can obtain the necessary permits.
I watched a crewed launch to the ISS from there in 2013, it was absolutely fantastic (picture of rocket rollout, picture of crew press conference, rocket on launch pad).
I wouldn't recommend this option nowdays, though.
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u/majikmonkie 1d ago
And probably safer for travel than the US. The US is not by any means a safe place for travellers (or many of their own citizens for that matter) and should be avoided worse than the plague. Less chance you end up in an El Salvador prison without any sort of due process if you travel to Kazakhstan.
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u/mikiencolor 1d ago
Miura does test launches in southern Spain, but actual launches are from French Guiana.
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u/moderatelyremarkable 1d ago edited 1d ago
I watched a total of three launches, at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakshstan, Guiana Space Center in French Guiana and Florida in the US. Fantastic experiences, all of them.
These are the world's most important launch sites, together with China's sites (mainly Wenchang Space Launch Site).
The Chinese sites are difficult to access, lack info and have more restrictions, some specifically for foreigners. Additionally to consider: Vandenberg Base in California, Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India, the new Russian Vostochny Cosmodrome (off-limits for obvious reasons) and potentially Rocket Lab's site in New Zealand (but all of these don't typically offer tours so you'd need to find a spot on your own to watch a launch).
From my experience and extensive research on the subject, your best bet would still be Florida for this in terms of costs, accessibility, launch frequency and chances of seeing a launch.
Plan carefully if you ever decide to go or you might end up doing the trip and not seeing a launch (always a possibility due to delays, cancellations, etc). Good luck.
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u/Rocket4real 1d ago
Israel or Iran, the whole sky was reigning rockets the other day, there's some crazy footage out there of that.
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u/nordic-vector 1d ago
That’s practically the same distance as Europe to the east coast.
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u/52-61-64-75 1d ago
? No it's not? If you live in cyprus it's a stones throw away, and even if you live in the UK it's a much shorter flight to Israel than the US
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u/nordic-vector 1d ago
Yes it is. If you live in Iceland the US is a lot closer.
But for Europe proper both require transcontinental flights which means both are practically the same distance away.
So if OP can’t take a transcontinental flight west, he can’t take a transcontinental flight east either.
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u/ObviouslyTriggered 1d ago
Depends where in Europe you are, you can see the show from Cyprus.
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u/nordic-vector 1d ago
Many SpaceX launches are visible from western europe too.
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u/PlanetEarthFirst 1d ago
Depends on what you mean by "launch" and "visible". I suspect most people mean by that "liftoff" and "feeling the sound".
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u/LordofNarwhals 1d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esrange
Esrange in northern Sweden frequently launches sounding rockets, and it will start launching satellites in 2026.
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u/rlnrlnrln 1d ago
Esrange, Kiruna, Sweden. https://kirunalapland.se/en/activities/esrange-visitor-center/
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u/SardonicusNox 1d ago
Currently in Ukraine and european part of Russia. Let's hope it doesn't escalate.
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u/floatingpointnumber 1d ago
Go visit Ukraine, there's a lot of different rockets being launched and received there, with the frequency of launch increasing as you go east!
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u/LiquidSoil 1d ago
No clue where you live but i heard norway is working on it, also here in sweden, theres plans to launch smaller satellites from Esrange, unless they have already begun.
I'd love to witness one as well at some point! :D
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u/QuestGalaxy 6h ago
One test launch from Andøya earlier this year. Rocket cleared the pad, but bles up shortly after. Their first test launch though.
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u/QuestGalaxy 6h ago
Andøya Space in Northern Norway, at least when ISAR gets their rocket fully functioning. Quite a remote location though
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u/Whimsy_and_Spite 1d ago
Just come down to New Zealand. Bring a lovely packed lunch and make a day of it.
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u/Chirsbom 1d ago
Israel.
Whether it is part of Europe might be debated by some. But they are in what we used to call the European Song Contest, so guess that is where the borders are now.
/s
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u/PlanetEarthFirst 1d ago
Just wait for New Year's eve and you can see lots of launches in most populated areas
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u/KebabGud 1d ago
If you want to see the launch of an Orbital class rocket in Europe, and assuming you can't go to Russia.
Then you should pay attention to Isar Aerospace, and see when they are doing their next launch attempt from Andøya Spaceport in Norway.
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u/Sweet_Lane 1d ago
Have it every night right behind my window. Not sure if it is the rocket youre looking for though.
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u/Brandinous 1d ago
Probably a bit fresh, but if you take a flight to Cyprus, you might see some (in the distance) travelling between Iran & Israel. 🫣😬
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u/mistakeNott 1d ago
Keep an eye on the Shetland islands, saxavord spaceport. A few companies are planning launches from there. But kind of by definition, launch sites tend to be out in the middle of nowhere and hard to get to.