ESA Science & Technology - Euclid

When tested in space-like conditions, the instrument on ESA's Euclid space telescope set to measure the velocities of fast-receding galaxies abruptly stopped operating. Blindsided, the mission team feared it might take weeks or even months of extra time to uncover the reason why. Then a newly-convened ESA Tiger Team came to their assistance.

The optical and infrared instruments of Euclid, ESA's mission to study dark energy and dark matter in space, have passed their qualification and acceptance reviews and are now fully integrated into the spacecraft's payload module.

ESA's Euclid mission has reached another milestone on its journey towards launch. Its two instruments are now built and fully tested. These have been delivered to Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France, where they are now being integrated with the telescope to form the mission's payload module.

A major step towards the completion of the scientific payload on ESA's Euclid space mission has been completed, following the delivery of the detectors for the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) instrument.

Arianespace and ESA today announced the signature of a launch services contract for the Euclid satellite – with the mission's timeframe for liftoff starting in mid-2022 from the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

This is the first entry in the Euclid Test Campaign Journal, a series of articles covering the main events during testing of the Structural and Thermal Model (STM) and Flight Model (FM) of the spacecraft.

Animation of the Euclid spacecraft, showing different elements such as the telescope, payload module and solar panels.