To boldly go, and safely return – behind the scenes at Ariane Group

At Airbus Defence and Space, visitors can explore the Columbus module during a guided space tour (© Jonas Ginter/BTZ Bremer Touristik-Zentrale)

What man and machines are achieving in space is truly impressive. At the launch sites and at home, millions of spectators watch rockets blasting off into the great unknown. But few outsiders get the chance to see what makes all this successful space travel possible. At Bremen Airport-City, rocket engineers work on projects such as the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. We watched experts from the Ariane Group at work.