Kourou is a town and district on the Atlantic coast of French Guiana, a South American overseas department of France. Northwest of the town, the Guiana Space Center, a European Space Agency spaceport, has a rocket launch site and space museum. Boats go from the town to the nearby ÎIes du Salut, former prison islands with restored buildings. The Kalapa Centre d’archéologie amérindienne shows pre-Columbian rock art.