The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Artist's impression of the Gaia spacecraft. Several components are made transparent to reveal other sections.
The payload module with the ~3m diameter hexagonal optical bench is depicted in blue. It rests on the electrical service module, which is the 12-sided yellow structure in the lower half of the image. The electrical service module houses the two star trackers (bright yellow at lower right), the communication subsystem, central computer and data handling subsystem, and the power subsystem (all in purple). In the centre of the electrical service module are the bipropellant tanks, micropropulsion tanks and pressurant tank (all in orange).
Resting on top of the electrical service module and covering the payload module is the thermal tent, depicted here transparent in light brown. On the flat top of the thermal tent is the low gain antenna (purple).
The unfolded sunshield is the transparent grey platform in the lower part of the image. Attached to the outside of the flat and uniform deployable sunshield are 6 solar panels, which can also be seen in this view.