The Technical Centre

Administration

Since the creation of Europe’s spaceport, the Technical Centre has housed the French Space Agency’s central departments in more than ten buildings: management, administration, facility and asset management and all the support services.

This is also where representatives from ESA, the European Space Agency, are located in Kourou.

Technical and operational

The Technical Centre also houses numerous facilities that contribute to launch activities: the Jupiter 2 control centre, flight safety, the safety command post and telecommunications. The Vega-C launch centre is also located here.
During launch operations, all of these facilities are activated to ensure a safe lift-off.

Located in the technical centre, the S1 Payload Preparation Complex (EPCU) receives satellites to prepare them for launch. Like the other satellite preparation complexes at Europe’s spaceport, it has its clean halls in which testing and assembly operations are carried out. Find out more about the EPCUs.

A brand-new Operations Centre

The future Operations Centre (Centre des Opérations or CDO), whose foundation stone was laid in September 2024, will bring together, in a single location, the operational teams and strategic systems dedicated to conducting launches, which until now have been spread out in several different buildings. Covering an area of almost 5,000 m2 on three floors, the CDO will comprise 7 operational rooms equipped with redundant facilities and a high level of automation, enabling more frequent launches and allowing several launches to be prepared in parallel.

Objective:  promote synergy and facilitate teamwork, while improving robustness, flexibility, reliability and safety.

Another important aspect is optimised energy efficiency. The CDO will be an eco-responsible building, meeting the requirements of the Qualité Environnementale Amazonienne [Amazonian Environmental Quality] label.

Logistics… and more!

A number of cross-functional services, mainly logistics, are grouped together at the technical centre: transport, a garage, a service station and a general store responsible for providing the various departments with equipment and supplies.

This area is also home to the main fire station of the Paris fire brigade, which has posts in the launch zones too. The firefighters ensure the safety of industrial operations, provide training in fire prevention and are ready for any first emergency response.
 

The Technical Centre at Europe’s spaceport is undergoing major changes as part of a comprehensive renovation programme scheduled to last 10 years, until 2032.

In addition to the construction of the new CDO, the aim of this operation is to reorganise the entire site: some buildings will be demolished and others completely renovated, bringing the teams together in a more functional way.

The aim of this transformation is to develop better quality of life at work, around a central location and social areas.

Finally, it illustrates the transition towards a more responsible spaceport by helping to limit its environmental impact and reduce its energy consumption.