ESA title

The mission

From 27 July 2014 to 15 January 2025, Gaia has made more than three trillion observations of two billion stars and other objects throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond, mapping their motions, luminosity, temperature and composition. Gaia's extraordinarily precise three-dimensional map will provide the data needed to tackle an enormous range of important questions related to the origin, structure and evolutionary history of our galaxy.

 

  • Launch: 19 December 2013
  • Orbit: L2 Lagrange point
  • End of science observations: 15 January 2025
  • Upcoming data releases:
    Data Release 4 (based on 66 months of data): expected December 2026
    Data Release 5 (based on all mission data): not before the end of 2030
  • Previous data releases:
    Data Release 1: 14 September 2016
    Data Release 2: 25 April 2018
    Early Data Release 3: 3 December 2020
    Data Release 3: 13 June 2022
    Focused Product Release: 10 October 2023
Gaia
Science & Exploration

Gaia starts mapping our galaxy’s bar

16/07/2019 9306 views 101 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Enabling & Support

Gaia’s biggest operation since launch

15/07/2019 10609 views 145 likes
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Pinpointing Gaia from Earth
Science & Exploration

Observing Gaia from Earth to improve its star maps

02/05/2019 7180 views 88 likes
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Future motions of the Milky Way, Andromeda and Triangulum galaxies
Science & Exploration

Gaia clocks new speeds for Milky Way-Andromeda collision

07/02/2019 28212 views 176 likes
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Artist’s impression of crystallisation in white dwarf
Science & Exploration

Gaia reveals how Sun-like stars turn solid after their demi…

09/01/2019 14173 views 161 likes
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A major event in the formation of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Galactic ghosts: Gaia uncovers major event in the formation…

31/10/2018 27953 views 191 likes
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Sprinting stars in the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Gaia spots stars flying between galaxies

02/10/2018 21161 views 187 likes
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Artist impression of ‘Oumuamua
Science & Exploration

Gaia finds candidates for interstellar ‘Oumuamua’s home

25/09/2018 10559 views 113 likes
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Perturbations in the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Gaia hints at our Galaxy’s turbulent life

19/09/2018 25617 views 200 likes
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Beta Pictoris system
Science & Exploration

Infant exoplanet weighed by Hipparcos and Gaia

20/08/2018 8735 views 132 likes
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Gaia’s sky in colour
Science & Exploration

Gaia creates richest star map of our Galaxy – and beyond

25/04/2018 478280 views 542 likes
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How many stars will there be in the second Gaia data release?
Science & Exploration

Call for media: Second data release from ESA's Gaia mission

19/04/2018 5109 views 28 likes
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Science & Exploration

Close encounters of the stellar kind

31/08/2017 17138 views 113 likes
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Stars speeding through the Galaxy
Science & Exploration

Artificial brain helps Gaia catch speeding stars

26/06/2017 9154 views 83 likes
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Science & Exploration

The future of the Orion constellation

09/06/2017 37713 views 181 likes
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Gaia’s first sky map
Science & Exploration

Gaia’s billion-star map hints at treasures to come

14/09/2016 163444 views 399 likes
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Science & Exploration

Watch Gaia first data release media briefing

12/09/2016 22798 views 147 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Call for media: First data release from ESA's Gaia mission

01/09/2016 3512 views 35 likes
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Rosetta comet seen by Gaia
Science & Exploration

Celebrity comet spotted among Gaia’s stars

03/11/2015 5769 views 70 likes
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Stellar density map
Science & Exploration

Gaia's first year of scientific observations

25/08/2015 18665 views 156 likes
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Stellar density map
Science & Exploration

Counting stars with Gaia

03/07/2015 18143 views 118 likes
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Artist's impression of Type Ia supernova
Science & Exploration

Gaia discovers its first supernova

12/09/2014 22421 views 143 likes
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Science & Exploration

Gaia: ‘Go’ for science

29/07/2014 11078 views 91 likes
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Gaia calibration image
Science & Exploration

Gaia comes into focus

06/02/2014 23395 views 131 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Enabling & Support

The experts behind Gaia's arrival at nothingness

15/01/2014 16615 views 145 likes
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Science & Exploration

Journey to a billion suns – world premiere of planetarium s…

08/01/2014 14098 views 78 likes
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Gaia liftoff
Science & Exploration

Gaia enters its operational orbit

08/01/2014 24373 views 100 likes
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Gaia liftoff
Science & Exploration

Liftoff for ESA’s billion-star surveyor

19/12/2013 31049 views 154 likes
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Science & Exploration

Gaia has ticket to ride

18/12/2013 12121 views 61 likes
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Gaia launch
Enabling & Support

Mission control ready for Gaia launch

17/12/2013 14442 views 66 likes
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Farewell to Gaia
Science & Exploration

Gaia secured inside fairing

13/12/2013 9319 views 60 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Call for Media: ESA’s Galaxy-mapping Gaia ready for launch …

12/12/2013 4075 views 17 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Gaia launch postponement update

23/10/2013 13777 views 70 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Gaia: launch postponed

22/10/2013 3229 views 33 likes
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Science & Exploration

Countdown to launch of ESA’s billion-star surveyor

21/10/2013 6150 views 53 likes
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Antonov plane at Toulouse airport during Gaia loading
Science & Exploration

Gaia has arrived in French Guiana

23/08/2013 8141 views 60 likes
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Science & Exploration

Europe bids Gaia a safe journey

27/06/2013 8957 views 60 likes
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Gaia thermal–vacuum test
Agency

Dialling down the heat on ESA’s billion-star surveyor

18/09/2012 1032 views 4 likes
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Enabling & Support

Gaia spreads its wings

07/12/2011 2212 views 2 likes
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Gaia camera array
Enabling & Support

Eye of Gaia: billion-pixel camera to map Milky Way

06/07/2011 9168 views 16 likes
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Artist's impression of the Gaia satellite
Science & Exploration

Gaia to lift off from Europe’s Spaceport on a Soyuz launcher

16/12/2009 2319 views 1 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Most extensive mapping of Milky Way a step closer

14/06/2005 1528 views 2 likes
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Gaia spacecraft showing deployed sunshield and solar arrays
Science & Exploration

Keeping ESA’s ‘lady of space’ cool

21/09/2004 2467 views 5 likes
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Gaia spacecraft
Science & Exploration

The billion-pixel camera

09/09/2004 9945 views 59 likes
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Gaia spacecraft
Science & Exploration

Mapping the Galaxy, and watching our backyard

25/06/2004 3093 views 12 likes
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