Full speed into the future
ESA’s space ambitions went on show at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where visitors also got a chance to play a new Moon mission video game.
Motorsport fans from around the world converged on Goodwood, UK, for the annual Festival of Speed from 13 to 16 July 2023. Alongside the car events and displays of automotive technology, visitors also got to peek into the future of space exploration with ESA at Future Lab.
The ESA stand at Future Lab made a big impression, greeting visitors with a full-scale model of Argonaut, Europe’s lunar lander. This innovative multi-mission spacecraft will play a vital role in future Moon missions, so the Argonaut model made a perfect centrepiece for the stand and a bold visual statement of Europe’s space ambitions.
Lunar exploration also provided a link between ESA and Epic Games, who used Future Lab to unveil the first stage of a new Fortnite video game set on the Moon. Built in collaboration with ESA, the demo featured the Argonaut lander and gave visitors an immersive hands-on experience of lunar exploration.
ESA’s Branding and Partnership’s team are building relationships with video games companies to enhance the synergy between the space sector and the video games industry. For example, the engine used by Epic Games to develop their games is also being used by ESA as a platform to deliver training to astronauts.
Emmet Fletcher, Head of ESA’s Branding and Partnerships Office commented on the additional benefits of this cross-industry synergy: “Working with video game companies allows us to share ESA’s space ambitions with gamers, and also provides a way to exchange technical expertise between the space and gaming sectors.”
With Gamescom 2023 imminent, watch this space for more news about ESA partnerships with video game developers and publishers.
