Europe’s Euclid space telescope launched Saturday, beginning a first-of-its-kind quest to shed light on two of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.
Following the launch, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher said, “I can tell you, I’m so thrilled, I’m so excited to see this mission up in space”.
The telescope successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 11:12 am local time (1512 GMT).
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/2IZ3pJcsSd
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 1, 2023
More photos from today’s Falcon 9 launch of Euclid pic.twitter.com/B9h2CS6WIr
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 1, 2023
It produced its first signal shortly after being separated from the rocket, as planned.
After Russia withdrew its Soyuz rockets in retaliation to sanctions over the war-Ukraine conflict, the ESA was obliged to turn to billionaire Elon Musk’s firm to launch the mission.
ESA’s science director, Carole Mundell said, “The launch was perfect. Now begins that journey”.
Euclid will join the James Webb telescope after a month-long journey through space at the second Lagrange Point, a stable hovering spot around 1.5 million kilometers (more than 930,000 miles) from Earth.
From there, Euclid will create the largest-ever map of the universe, spanning more than a third of the sky and covering up to two billion galaxies.
The map will also provide a new perspective on the universe by capturing light that has taken the 13.8-billion-year-old universe’s history.
