SpaceX launches European spacecraft to explore dark matter

NHK reported that SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was launched from a launch site in Florida (USA) at 11:00 a.m. on July 1 (local time), helping to carry the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid spacecraft into space to carry out a mission to explore the development of the universe.

Falcon 9 rocket carrying Euclid launched on July 1

The Euclid spacecraft weighs 2 tons and contains a 1.2-meter-diameter telescope and two other instruments. These instruments are capable of observing galaxies 10 billion light years away from Earth (1 light year is about 9,461 billion kilometers) and mapping the universe.

Euclid is designed to explore the evolution of cosmic structure, the expansion of the universe over time. One of the spacecraft's missions is to examine dark matter and dark energy, two fundamental components of the universe.

Simulation image of the Euclid Space Telescope

Dark matter is invisible and researchers believe it exists everywhere in the universe. Dark energy is a mysterious force that causes the universe to expand.

Euclid was originally scheduled to launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket. However, after Russia's conflict with Ukraine, Europe decided to use one of the rockets from the American company SpaceX.

In the next four weeks, the Euclid spacecraft is expected to travel within 1.5 million kilometers of Earth. The telescope will begin operations in about three months. According to The Guardian , this ESA mission has a total budget of 1.4 billion USD, designed to operate for at least 6 years.

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