Mission to map the ‘dark universe’ sets off on space journey

The Euclid space telescope will map the ‘dark universe’ by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion lightyears, across more than a third of the sky, to gather data on how its structure has formed over its cosmic history.

Led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and a consortium of 2,000 scientists across 16 countries, Euclid will spend six years venturing through space with two scientific instruments: a UK-built visible imager (VIS) that will become one of the largest cameras ever sent into space, and a near infrared spectrometer and photometer, developed in France.

Secretary of State for Science and Technology Chloe Smith said: “The launch of the Euclid mission is a truly significant moment. Backed by £37 million in UK funding and supported by our remarkable scientific talent and expertise, the mission will launch one of the largest cameras ever into space to look out across our universe.

“The mission will gain unparalleled insight into the mysteries of how the Universe was formed, delivering ground-breaking discoveries that will redefine what we know about space.”

Dr Paul Bate, Chief Executive of the UK Space Agency, said: “Watching the launch of Euclid, I feel inspired by the years of hard work from thousands of people that go into space science missions, and the fundamental importance of discovery – how we set out to understand and explore the Universe.

“The UK Space Agency’s £37 million investment in Euclid has supported world-class science on this journey, from the development of the ground segment to the build of the crucial visible imager instrument, which will help humanity begin to uncover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.”

Euclid took off on board a SpaceX spacecraft from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 4.12pm (BST) on 1^st July.

The UK Space Agency’s funding goes back to 2010, up to 2024, and is divided between teams at University College London, The Open University, University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford, University of Portsmouth, and Durham University.

All these institutions have contributed to the development and implementation of the Euclid UK Science Ground Segment (UKSGS), which runs the Euclid data analysis. Led by the University of Edinburgh, which hosts Euclid’s UK Science Data Centre (SDC-UK), the UKSGS will process hundreds of petabytes of data over the next six years to produce maps of the galaxies and dark matter of the Universe.

The wider Euclid Consortium includes experts from 300 organisations across 13 European countries, the US, Canada, and Japan.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) also contributed to design and development work on Euclid instrumentation and provided funding to UK astronomy teams who will analyse the data returned from the mission, including studies on the physics responsible for the observed accelerated expansion of the Universe.

Executive Chair at STFC Professor Mark Thomson said: “Euclid will answer some of the biggest and most profound questions we have about the Universe and dark energy. Congratulations to everyone involved in the design, construction and launch of Euclid – we are opening a new window on the cosmos.

“This is a fantastic example of close collaboration between scientists, engineers, technicians, and astronomers across Europe working together to tackle some of the biggest questions in science.”