Posted: Sat, Jul 8, 2023, 1:33 PM ET (1733 GMT)
A European mission to study dark energy and dark matter is underway after a SpaceX launch July 1. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:12 am EDT (1512 GMT) and deployed the Euclid spacecraft 41 minutes later on a trajectory to the Earth-sun L-2 point, 1.5 million kilometers away. The $1.5 billion Euclid mission features a telescope with visible and infrared instruments designed to create a 3-D map of millions of galaxies, providing data that astronomers hope will unlock the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy that, combined, make up 95% of the universe. ESA turned to SpaceX to launch the mission after losing access to its original rocket, the Soyuz, last year.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  AP article
•  BBC article
•  Ars Technica article
•  New York Times article