European Space Research and Technology Centre

The European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA), the European space industry represented by Eurospace, and several space agencies, to develop and maintain a coherent, single set of user-friendly standards for use in all European space activities. Established in 1993 following a call by Eurospace to unify space products assurance standardization on a European level, it was officially adopted by the ESA on 23 June 1994 through the resolution ESA/C/CXIII/Res.1, to replace its own Procedures, Specifications and Standards (PSS) system. The ECSS currently has 139 active standards, forming the ECSS system. These standards cover management, engineering, product assurance, and space sustainability disciplines. The ECSS is managed by the ESA Requirement and Standard Division, based in the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The ECSS maintains connections with multiple European and international standardization organizations, to contribute to standardization and to adopt relevant standards as part of the ECSS system.

Katwijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɑtʋɛik] (listen)), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Sea. Katwijk is located on the North Sea, northwest of Leiden and 16 km north of The Hague. It shares its borders with the municipalities of Noordwijk, Teylingen, Oegstgeest, Leiden, and Wassenaar. In August 2020, Katwijk had a population of 65.929 and covers an area of 31.15 km2 (12.03 sq mi), of which 6.40 km2 (2.47 sq mi) is water. Katwijk is by far the largest town in the Duin- en Bollenstreek ("Dune and Bulb Region").

Katwijk aan den Rijn (Katwijk on the Rhine) is a town in the municipality of Katwijk in the province of South Holland, in The Netherlands, with approximately 6020 inhabitants. Katwijk aan den Rijn lies between Katwijk aan Zee, Valkenburg and Rijnsburg. It actually forms a unit with all of these other centres.

The Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) is a branch of the Rhine delta in the Dutch provinces of Utrecht and South Holland, starting west of Utrecht, at Harmelen and runs by a mechanical pumping station into the North Sea at Katwijk. Its present-day length is 52 kilometres. In ancient times, the river was the lower part of the main Rhine branch, forking at Batavia Island, now Betuwe, in a northern branche, Rhine and southern branche Maas. It was much broader and was influenced by sea-tides. During occupation of the Romans the river formed part of the northern border of the Roman Empire. In medieval times, river Lek became the main draining river for Rhinewater and the Old Rhine was silting. The river still was important as draining river for the surrounding lowlands, for clay-industry and as a transport and trade route. Ships were towed by horse- and humanpower, using a towpath along large sections of the river, many parts of which have been upgraded to (cycling-)roads over time.

Latour is a restaurant housed in Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwijk, Netherlands. It is a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star for the period 2005-present.GaultMillau awarded the restaurant 16 out of 20 points.Head chef of Latour is Marcel van Lier Van Lier succeeded Erik Jansen in 2000.Former sous chef Maurits van der Vooren died 23 March 2021, aged 37, from cancer.Latour often takes part in cooking competitions, scoping awards in the "Roussillon Dessert Trophée" 2004 and 2007 and the "Grand Concours Laurent-Perrier" 2005.

Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin is a seaside hotel and congress center in Noordwijk aan Zee, South Holland, Netherlands, with views over the North Sea. It is notable for being decorated in a clown theme, with many paintings of clowns, and for housing the Michelin-starred Latour restaurant.

The Nieuwe Kerk ("New Church") in Katwijk, the Netherlands, is the oldest and best known work of the architect H.J. Jesse (1860–1943). It was built to replace the nearby Andreaskerk, which had become too small.

The Museum of Comic Art (MoCA) in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, is an international art museum that specializes in original artwork by European and U.S. comic book and newspaper comic artists. Its primary focus are original comic strips and comic book pages by influential artists such as Winsor McCay, Richard Outcault, Hergé, André Franquin, Jijé, Peyo and Morris. There are new exhibitions every summer and winter. The museum opened its first exhibition, European Masters of Comic Art for Friends of MoCA on November 28, 2020. After the second COVID-19 lockdown around that time, the museum eventually opened its doors to the general public on 9 June 2021. The opening day received a lot of positive attention in the Dutch press. while the renovation was reviewed in De Architect.

Brittenburg was a Roman ruin site west of Leiden between Katwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk aan Zee, presumably identical to the even older Celtic Lugdunum fortress. The site is first mentioned in 1401, was uncovered more completely by storm erosion in 1520, 1552 and 1562, and has subsequently been entirely eroded away. When built, it was located at the mouth of the Oude Rijn (old river Rhine), which has since moved. The site was about a kilometre west of the European Space Research and Technology Centre, now offshore in the North Sea).

Katwijk aan Zee (literally, Katwijk-upon-Sea) is a seaside resort located on the North Sea at the mouth of the Oude Rijn. It is situated in the municipality of Katwijk and the province of South Holland.

Noordwijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnoːrtˌʋɛik] (listen)) is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 74.94 km2 (28.93 sq mi) of which 16.57 km2 (6.40 sq mi) is water and had a population of 42,859 in 2019. On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwijkerhout became part of Noordwijk. Besides its beaches, Noordwijk is also known for its bulb flower fields. It is located in an area called the "Dune and Bulb Region" (Duin- en Bollenstreek). Noordwijk is also the location of the headquarters for the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), part of the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA's visitors' centre Space Expo is a permanent space exhibition.

De Graaf van het Hoogveen was a restaurant located in Badhotel Zeerust in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands. It was a fine dining restaurant that was awarded one Michelin star in 1982 and retained that rating until 1988.De Graaf van het Hoogveen was a small restaurant with just eight tables. The restaurant was famous for its wine list with 650 wines and its wine cellar of 15,000 bottles of high quality wines. It received several national and international awards for it.