Cite de l'Espace

The Cite de l'Espace opened in 1997 in the city that builds European satellites and much of Airbus, and its outdoor park is what people remember: a full-scale Ariane 5 launcher standing fifty-three metres upright, a replica of the Mir station's base block that visitors walk through, and a Soyuz module. Inside are real flown hardware, meteorites, a lunar sample, planetarium shows and an IMAX screen. Interactive stands cover weightlessness and orbital mechanics. It leans towards families but the collection of genuine spaceflight objects, and the connection to a city that actually builds this equipment, gives it more substance than a theme park.

History

The Cité de l'espace was developed from 1994 to 1997 under its founding director Jean-Michel Oberto, on the initiative of the city of Toulouse with partners including the space agency CNES, Météo-France and the aerospace industry, and it opened in June 1997 with the astronaut Claudie Haigneré as its godmother. The full-scale Mir opened in July 1998, the millionth visitor arrived in September 2000, a permanent Mars hall opened in 2002, and Astralia, with its planetarium and IMAX cinema, in April 2005; in July 2003 the park was the start of a stage of the Tour de France, in 2013 it acquired a Martian meteorite, and the renovated planetarium opened in July 2017 (Wikipedia, Cité de l'espace).

Highlights

• The Ariane 5 - a full-size fifty-three-metre launcher standing outdoors.
• The Mir module - a training replica of the station walked through.
• The planetarium and IMAX - dome and large-format space films.
• The flown hardware - real capsules, instruments and a lunar sample.

When to go

Year-round; it closes some Mondays in low season and for a January break. Much of the site is outdoors, so weather matters. School holidays are very busy.

Good to know

A large part of the visit is outdoors and unpleasant in rain or midsummer heat. Content is aimed largely at children and families. Planetarium sessions are timed and fill.

Nearby

Toulouse city centre lies west; Airbus tours run from Blagnac.

Key facts