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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Gaia spacecraft
Gaia has two main modules:
-The payload module, containing the telescopes, the focal plane and the related electronics.
-The service module, containing all the mechanical, structural, electrical and thermal elements that support the instruments. This includes the micro-propulsion system and the sunshield, thermal tent and solar arrays, and support functions for spacecraft pointing, electrical power control, central data management, and radio communications with Earth. In addition, the service module hosts the scientific video processing units and data storage memory for the instruments in the payload module.