Space telescope
Gaia
ESA · launched 2013 · ended 2025
Mapped two billion stars; retired in 2025.
Right now · as of
Interplanetary cruise
93.1 million km from Earth; a signal takes 5 min 11 s
161 million km (1.08 AU) from the Sun, moving at 28.4 km/s relative to the Sun
Open in 3DGaia (spacecraft)
European space observatory for astrometry (2013–2025)
Gaia is a retired space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA) that was launched in 2013 and operated until March 2025. The spacecraft was designed for astrometry: measuring the positions, distances and motions of stars with unprecedented precision, and the positions of exoplanets by measuring attributes about the stars they orbit such as their apparent magnitude and colour.
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Facts
- What it is
- Space telescope
- Agency
- ESA
- Launched
- December 19, 2013
- Rocket
- Soyuz ST-B / Fregat-MT
- Launch site
- Kourou ELS
- Mission ended
- 2025
- International designator
- 2013-074A