A high-speed particle and electronics malfunction threatened the Gaia space telescope, but scientists managed to not only fix the issue, but also to optimize Gaia beyond its previous capabilities.

Arianespace’s mission with Gaia is designated Flight VS06 in the company’s launcher family numbering system, and uses the Soyuz ST launcher version with a Fregat upper stage.

Europe's star-mapping Gaia space observatory has entered its retirement orbit, after gathering valuable cosmic data for more than a decade.

The final messages sent to Gaia will continue to be carried out into space as the observatory sleeps, and as data from it continues to contribute to astronomy.

After more than a decade of mapping billions of stars across the Milky Way and beyond, a groundbreaking spacecraft is retiring. The European Space Agency’s space-based observatory known as Gaia ...