The NL Space Campus achieved a new milestone during NL Space Week! On Thursday, 3 October 3, the festive groundbreaking of the new CometLab took place. The ceremony on the Martin Schröderplein at the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk started with welcoming the dignitaries from Provincie Zuid-Holland, ESA ESTEC, Gemeente Noordwijk, Economic Board Duin- en Bollenstreek, and three honourable astronauts: Mark Pathy, Klaus-Dietrich Flade, and Jeffrey Hoffman. Baristas served fresh coffee and delicious petits fours at the site.
After the welcome speech by Paul Veger, founder of Decos and chair of the CometLab board who remembered the impact of a place to freely tinker with technology from his own childhood, the event continued with speeches of Marc Klein Wolt, Director of Radboud Radio Lab and member of the CometLab board, who called the CometLab a place to accelerate innovation and bringing people together for R&D purposes. Dietmar Pilz, ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEQ) and Head of ESTEC, who made his speech in Dutch, exclusively for the occasion, emphasized the cooperation between the NL Space Campus and ESA and how CometLab is a bridge for exchanging knowledge, talent, and vision.
Wouter Kolff, the King’s Commissioner of Provincie Zuid-Holland, embraced the NL Space Campus in raising awareness on the importance of space in the Netherlands and helping demystify it by bringing space closer to people and the people closer to space. Finally, Roberto ter Hark, Alderman Gemeente Noordwijk, made a speech and said the NL Space Campus is crucial in economic, technological, and educational terms. It creates jobs, helps innovation, inspires talent, and connects the curious!
The ceremony took place at the building site, where everyone gathered to witness the builder, assisted by three astronauts, break the ground. Astronaut Mark Pathy operated the digging machine and successfully broke the ground as the NL Space Campus community members, the CometLab board, and stakeholders witnessed this unique moment!
To close off the ceremony, the NL Space Campus invited everyone for a drink afterwards and thanked everyone who contributed to the realization of the CometLab, marking the beginning of a new chapter.
About CometLab
The CometLab at NL Space Campus in Noordwijk provides design tools, space-related equipment, and open-source technologies to support innovative ideas and facilitate research, product development, and services for the space sector. It offers a collaborative space for companies, researchers, engineers, and students, enabling larger-scale manufacturing and specialized applications within the space ecosystem. The NL PhiLab, which fosters groundbreaking technology and data from research projects, will also be housed in the CometLab.
The lab is primarily dedicated to early-phase concept studies, low TRL projects, and educational/training purposes. Its key features include fast and cost-effective experimentation, access to the local space community, space-related equipment and materials, relevant workshops, courses, training, and space-related competitions.
The Comet Lab is the next important step in the development of the NL Space Campus area after the opening of the Martin Schröderplein. It will further boost the space ecosystem of Noordwijk and Zuid-Holland. The Comet Lab is made possible by financial and in-kind contributions from Provincie Zuid-Holland, ESA ESTEC, Gemeente Noordwijk, Economic Board Duin- en Bollenstreek, and NL Space Campus.
The organisation expects the facility to be operational in 9 to 12 months.
