2023-07-01 15:12:00
ESA’s Euclid spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, on July 1 at 17:12 CEST on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The successful launch marks the beginning of an ambitious mission designed to uncover the nature of two mysterious components of our universe: dark matter and dark energy, and help us answer the fundamental question: what is the universe made of?
After launch and separation from the rocket, at 17:57 CEST, ESA’s European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt confirmed receipt of the signal from Euclid via the New Norcia ground station in Australia.
“The successful launch of Euclid marks the beginning of a new scientific endeavor designed to help us answer one of the most exciting questions in modern science,” says ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. “Euclid was made possible through the leadership of ESA, the efforts and expertise of hundreds of European industrial and scientific institutions, and collaboration with international partners. Striving to answer fundamental questions regarding our cosmos is what makes us human. And often it is what drives the advance of science and the development of powerful, far-reaching new technologies. ESA is committed to expanding Europe’s space ambitions and achievements for future generations.”
“The Euclid mission is the result of the passion and expertise of those involved in the design and construction of this sophisticated space telescope, the skill of our flight operations team, and the inquiring mind of the scientific community,” said Giuseppe Racca, the Euclid project leader ESA. “There were many challenges during the project, but we worked hard and now, together with our partners in the Euclid Consortium and NASA, we have successfully reached this launch milestone.”
The Euclid consortium contributed the two state-of-the-art scientific instruments – the visible-wavelength (VIS) camera and the near-infrared spectrometer and photometer (NISP). NASA provided the detectors for NISP.
Exploring the Dark Universe
Euclid will observe billions of galaxies within a radius of 10 billion light-years to create the largest and most accurate 3D map of the universe, with the third dimension representing time itself. This detailed depiction of the shape, position and movement of the galaxies will shed light on how matter is distributed over vast distances and how the expansion of the universe has evolved throughout cosmic history, allowing astronomers to uncover the properties of dark energy and the close dark matter. This will help theorists better understand the role of gravity and fathom the nature of these enigmatic entities.
“Today we celebrate the successful launch of a groundbreaking mission that puts Europe at the forefront of cosmological research,” says Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science. “If we want to understand the universe in which we live, we must uncover the nature of dark matter and dark energy and understand the role they played in the formation of our universe. To answer these fundamental questions, Euclid will provide the most detailed map of the extragalactic sky. This invaluable wealth of data will also enable the scientific community to explore many other aspects of astronomy for many years to come.”
To achieve its ambitious scientific goal, Euclid is equipped with a 1.2 m reflecting telescope that feeds two innovative scientific instruments: VIS, which takes very sharp images of galaxies over a large part of the sky, and NISP, which captures the can analyze infrared light from galaxies by wavelength to accurately determine their distance.
The spacecraft and communications are controlled from ESOC. To handle the vast amounts of data Euclid will collect, ESA’s Estrack network has been upgraded with deep-sea antennas. This data will be analyzed by the Euclid Consortium, a group of over 2000 scientists from over 300 institutes in Europe, the US, Canada and Japan.
As the mission progresses, the Euclid data trove will be published on an annual basis and made available to the global scientific community through the Science Archives at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Center in Spain.
“This is a great moment for science that we have long looked forward to: the launch of Euclid on a mission to unravel the mystery of dark matter and dark energy,” says René Laureijs, ESA’s Euclid Project Scientist. “The great mystery of the fundamental constituents of the universe is before us and presents a formidable challenge. Thanks to his advanced telescope and powerful scientific instruments, Euclid is able to help us unravel this mystery.”
Journey to the Lagrange point 2
Over the next four weeks, Euclid will travel to Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2, a point of equilibrium in the Sun-Earth system that will move 1.5 million km from Earth (regarding four times the Earth-Moon distance) in in the opposite direction to the sun. There, Euclid is maneuvered into orbit around that point, and mission controllers begin checking all spacecraft functions, checking the telescope, and finally turning on the science instruments.
Subsequently, in an intensive two-month phase, the scientists and engineers will test and calibrate Euclid’s scientific instruments and prepare for routine observations. Over a period of six years, Euclid will survey one-third of the sky with unprecedented accuracy and sensitivity.
About Euclid
Euclid is a European mission built and operated by ESA, with contributions from NASA. The Euclid consortium is responsible for providing the scientific tools and scientific data analysis. ESA has selected Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the construction of the satellite and its service module, while Airbus Defense and Space has been contracted to develop the payload module including the telescope. NASA provided the near-infrared spectrometer and photometer (NISP) detectors. Euclid is a medium-class mission within ESA’s Cosmic Vision program.
About the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space.
ESA is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1975 whose mission is to develop European space capabilities and ensure that investments in space benefit European and global citizens.
ESA has 22 member states: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are associate members.
ESA has established formal cooperation with four EU Member States. Canada also participates in certain ESA programs under a cooperation agreement.
Thanks to the coordination of the financial resources and competences of its member states, ESA is able to carry out programs and activities that go far beyond the capabilities of a single European country. It also works closely with the EU on the implementation of the Galileo and Copernicus programs and closely with Eumetsat on the development of meteorological emissions.
To learn more regarding ESA, visit www.esa.int
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