Gaia space telescope retired after mapping two billion stars

Europe's Gaia space telescope has officially ended its mission after ten years. It was powered down on Thursday, following a successful effort to map nearly two billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Its observations will support research for many years to come. Since its launch in 2013, Gaia has operated from a stable orbit 1.5 million kilometers from Earth. With the emergence of new telescopes, the European Space Agency (ESA) decided to move Gaia into a retirement orbit, ensuring it remains far from Earth's vicinity for the next century. Over its operational period, Gaia contributed significantly to astronomy. It identified ancient star streams and tracked the Milky Way's growth, revealing information about dwarf galaxies and thousands of asteroids and black holes. ESA engineers carefully deactivated Gaia's systems on Thursday, marking the end of its service. However, the data it collected will continue to be analyzed, with a new catalogue of its findings set to be released in 2026 and a final one expected in 2030.