Gaia
Mission overview
Gaia was ESA's mission to chart a precise three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars in the Milky Way.
Mission data
Identity and engineering data from Wikidata (type-verified match · Q767805) · launch date 2013-12-19 confirmed
| International designator | 2013-074A | Wikidata · catalogued |
| Operator | European Space Agency | Wikidata · catalogued |
| Launch mass | 2,029 kg | Wikidata · catalogued |
Full field-level provenance
- International designator: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P247 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Operator: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P137 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11
- Launch mass: Wikidata (Wikimedia Foundation) — community-curated structured knowledge base · Wikidata · wdt · P2067 · catalogued value · retrieved 2026-07-11
Sourced from Wikidata (community-maintained structured data, whose statements link to their own citations where provided); each value carries its Wikidata QID. A field with conflicting Wikidata values is omitted. Launch date is used only to cross-check the catalogue, never to override it. Fields Wikidata did not provide, or where conflicting values exist, are omitted, never invented.
Outcome & discoveries
Measured positions, distances, and motions for nearly two billion stars.
- ★The most precise 3D map of the Milky Way to date
Mission profile
Knowledge connections
- Operated byESA
- StudiesThe Milky Way
- Launched bySoyuz
- ObservesVisible light
- Conducts surveyGaia Data Release 3
- Discovered2MASS J03590986+2009361 b
- Discovered2MASS J11011926-7732383 b
- Discovered2MASS J11550485-7919108 b
- Discovered2MASS J21252752-8138278 b
- DiscoveredG 196-3 b
- DiscoveredGaia-4 b
- DiscoveredGaia-5 b
- DiscoveredHD 128717 b
- DiscoveredHIP 66074 b
- DiscoveredHIP 77900 b
- DiscoveredITG 15 b
- Related toGaia Catalogue
- Associated withParallax
- Associated withProper Motion
- Associated withSpace Astrometry
- Associated withStellar Streams
- Associated withGalactic Archaeology
- Associated withBig-Data Astronomy
- Associated withGaia Survey Overlay
Related missions
| Mission | Type | Agency | Launch | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BepiColomboMercury | Orbiter | ESA | 2018-10-20 | En route |
| Venus ExpressVenus | Orbiter | ESA | 2005-11-09 | Completed |
| Mars ExpressMars | Orbiter | ESA | 2003-06-02 | Active |
| JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer)Jupiter and its icy moons | Orbiter | ESA | 2023-04-14 | En route |
| RosettaComet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko | Orbiter and lander | ESA | 2004-03-02 | Completed |
| Solar OrbiterThe Sun | Solar observatory | ESA | 2020-02-10 | Active |
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.