Space mission · ESA

Gaia

ExplorationCompletedLaunched 2013-12-19

Mission overview

Gaia was ESA's mission to chart a precise three-dimensional map of more than a billion stars in the Milky Way.

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

Launch vehicle

Soyuz

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

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

Facts on this topic will be cited from these primary and reference sources.

ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.

Quick facts

Type: Space mission
Agency: ESA
Mission type: Astrometry observatory
Destination: Sun–Earth L2
Launch date: 2013-12-19
Status: Completed
Launch vehicle: Soyuz

Scientific citations

Real, source-backed references — primary papers first, then datasets and institutional sources. Formatted through the citation engine; nothing is fabricated.

Mission pageGaia

European Space Agency

Cite (APA / BibTeX)

European Space Agency (n.d.). Gaia. European Space Agency. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia

@misc{cite:obs-space_telescope-gaia,
  title        = {Gaia},
  organization = {European Space Agency},
  year         = {n.d.},
  url          = {https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia},
  note         = {Official page for Gaia.}
}

Quality & authority

31%

Unreviewed

Completeness: Complete
Source coverage: Partial
Citation coverage: None
Relationship coverage: Complete
Review coverage: None
Image coverage: None

Curated from authoritative public sources. See source quality.

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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

European Space Agency (n.d.). Gaia. European Space Agency. https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia @misc{cite:obs-space_telescope-gaia, title = {Gaia}, organization = {European Space Agency}, year = {n.d.}, url = {https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia}, note = {Official page for Gaia.} }