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Factsheet 16-Mar-2006

Gaia
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18 May 2004

Gaia builds upon the European heritage of precision stellar mapping that was exemplified by ESA’s
Hipparcos mission in the late 1980s. Whereas that mission catalogued one hundred thousand stars to
high precision, and over one million to lesser accuracy, Gaia will map one thousand million stars to
unprecedented levels of precision.

Gaia’s name was derived as an acronym for Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics. This
reflected the optical technique of interferometry that was originally planned for use on this telescope.
However, the working method has now changed. Although the acronym is no longer applicable, the
name Gaia remains to provide continuity with the project.

Objectives

Gaia's main scientific objective is to use its census of stars to clarify the origin and subsequent history
of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. The data collected by Gaia will allow astronomers to understand more
clearly than ever before where, when and how stars form as well as how they enrich the space around
them when they die. Gaia will also provide the most accurate distances and motions for about one
thousand million stars, thus giving astronomers a clearer view of the structure and evolution of the
Milky Way as a whole.

Gaia is expected to become one of science’s greatest discovery machines. Estimates suggest that Gaia
will discover the following quantities of celestial object:

up to a million asteroids and comets within our own Solar System;

thirty thousand planets beyond our Solar System;
fifty thousand failed stars, called ‘brown dwarfs’;
hundreds of thousands of dead stellar remnants, called ‘white dwarfs';
twenty thousand exploding stars, called 'supernovae';
hundreds of thousands of distant active galaxies, called 'quasars'.

Cost

Industrial studies, costing roughly 15 million Euros, are currently running until 2005 and are paid by
ESA. The entire mission, including launch, ground operations and payload, will cost about 450 million
Euros.

Launch

Gaia is scheduled for a mid-2011 launch. It will be lifted into space using a Russian Soyuz.

Orbit

After launch, Gaia will take about six months to cruise to the Lagrangian point, known as L2. The L2
point is approximately 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth (about four times the distance of the
Moon). Here at this position, a gravitational equilibrium exists that will keep pace with the Earth, and
offers a less obstructed view of the cosmos than an orbit around the Earth.

Planned mission lifetime

Gaia is designed to fulfil its mission in six years, including the six-month cruise phase.

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Spacecraft

Design

The near-circular solar array/sunshield assembly dominates Gaia’s design. Above this is a geodesic
dome design that houses the payload module which carries the instruments. Below the payload is a
conical service module containing essential systems such as propulsion, communications and power.
The spacecraft is three-axis stabilised and will use its capability to slowly rotate, scanning continually as
it sweeps its instruments’ fields of view across space.

Mass

At launch, Gaia will have a mass of about 1700 kilograms, including 800 kilograms of payload, a
600-kilogram service module and 270 kilograms of fuel.

Dimensions

With the solar array deployed, its total width is about 11 metres. The payload dome is approximately 3
metres across and 2 metres high. The service module is about 3 metres across and 1 metre high.

Industrial involvement

At present, two major, parallel studies, known as ‘system studies’ are ongoing. These have been
awarded to Astrium and Alenia/Alcatel. There are also about 10 ongoing separate, smaller technical
studies. The prime contractor for the mission will be chosen at the conclusion of these studies,
expected around 2005.

What's on board?

Gaia carries two main science instruments:

Astro There will be two identical Astro telescopes on board Gaia. Both possess rectangular primary
mirrors that are 1.4 metres by 0.5 metres in size. Two more mirrors then bring the light to a focus.
Each instrument looks at a different section of sky, separated by 106 degrees. A suite of about 200
charge-coupled device (CCD) detectors will image celestial objects. They will precisely map the position
of the stars and chart any movement across the sky during Gaia’s mission.

Spectro Spectro contains a smaller primary mirror than the Astro units, at just 0.5 metres on each
side. However, it too is a three-mirror telescope. Its view of the cosmos will be captured by 40 CCD
detectors, which will measure the brightness and colour of the stars, and by six large CCD detectors
that will dissect their light providing a measure of the movement of the stars along the line of sight.

Both instruments are being paid for by ESA and will be the collective responsibility of ESA, its industrial
partners and its science teams.

Operations

Ground control and all science operations will be conducted from the European Space Operations
Centre (ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany), using the ground station at Cebreros (Spain).

ESA Project Scientist: Michael Perryman

ESA Project Manager: Rudolf Schmidt

For further information:

ESA Media Relations Service

Tel: +33 1 5369 7155
Fax: +33 1 5369 7690

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