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
Gaia’s sky in colour
Science & Exploration

Gaia creates richest star map of our Galaxy – and beyond

25/04/2018 477956 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 5100 views 28 likes
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Science & Exploration

Close encounters of the stellar kind

31/08/2017 17105 views 113 likes
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Stars speeding through the Galaxy
Science & Exploration

Artificial brain helps Gaia catch speeding stars

26/06/2017 9126 views 83 likes
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Science & Exploration

The future of the Orion constellation

09/06/2017 37654 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 163418 views 399 likes
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Science & Exploration

Watch Gaia first data release media briefing

12/09/2016 22772 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 3511 views 35 likes
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Rosetta comet seen by Gaia
Science & Exploration

Celebrity comet spotted among Gaia’s stars

03/11/2015 5695 views 70 likes
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Stellar density map
Science & Exploration

Gaia's first year of scientific observations

25/08/2015 18654 views 156 likes
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Stellar density map
Science & Exploration

Counting stars with Gaia

03/07/2015 18140 views 118 likes
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Artist's impression of Type Ia supernova
Science & Exploration

Gaia discovers its first supernova

12/09/2014 22388 views 143 likes
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Science & Exploration

Gaia: ‘Go’ for science

29/07/2014 11055 views 91 likes
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Gaia calibration image
Science & Exploration

Gaia comes into focus

06/02/2014 23391 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 16608 views 145 likes
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Science & Exploration

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

08/01/2014 14092 views 78 likes
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Gaia liftoff
Science & Exploration

Gaia enters its operational orbit

08/01/2014 24353 views 100 likes
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Gaia liftoff
Science & Exploration

Liftoff for ESA’s billion-star surveyor

19/12/2013 31027 views 154 likes
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Science & Exploration

Gaia has ticket to ride

18/12/2013 12117 views 61 likes
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Gaia launch
Enabling & Support

Mission control ready for Gaia launch

17/12/2013 14436 views 66 likes
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Farewell to Gaia
Science & Exploration

Gaia secured inside fairing

13/12/2013 9296 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 4073 views 17 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Gaia launch postponement update

23/10/2013 13771 views 70 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Science & Exploration

Gaia: launch postponed

22/10/2013 3225 views 33 likes
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Science & Exploration

Countdown to launch of ESA’s billion-star surveyor

21/10/2013 6145 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 8136 views 60 likes
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Science & Exploration

Europe bids Gaia a safe journey

27/06/2013 8954 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 1029 views 4 likes
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Enabling & Support

Gaia spreads its wings

07/12/2011 2206 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 9154 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 2299 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 1518 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 2459 views 5 likes
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Gaia spacecraft
Science & Exploration

The billion-pixel camera

09/09/2004 9930 views 59 likes
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Gaia spacecraft
Science & Exploration

Mapping the Galaxy, and watching our backyard

25/06/2004 3087 views 12 likes
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