The European Space Agency’s (ESA) star-tracking spacecraft, Gaia, has shut down its science operations after 12 years of mapping the Milky Way galaxy. The spacecraft ran low on its cold gas propellant, which is used to spin the craft and maintain its position.
Although Gaia will no longer be collecting data, its influence on space science will continue. According to Dr. Kareem El-Badry, a Harvard researcher who frequently uses Gaia’s data, “The Gaia mission is not ending — just the taking of data.” The spacecraft has already studied almost 2 billion stars and other objects in the Milky Way, providing valuable information about star motions, luminosities, temperatures, and compositions.
Gaia’s data releases have been instrumental in building the largest and most precise 3D map of our local universe. The next data release, Gaia Data Release 4 (GR4), is expected before mid-2026 and will surpass previous releases in terms of data volume and quality. A final data release, GR5, is also planned for the 2030s.
Gaia will now be used as a test subject for scientists to refine spacecraft and instrument control in space. The spacecraft will remain at a stable point between Earth and the sun, Lagrange point 2 (L2), before moving into an orbit that keeps it clear of the Earth-moon system.
Source: https://www.space.com