The European Space Agency says it's signed a contract for its next-generation star-mapper spacecraft, Gaia, to be launched by an Arianespace rocket.
The launch is to take place on an as yet unspecified date in 2011 from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
David Southwood, ESA's director of science and robotic exploration, signed the contract for the launch Tuesday with Jean-Yves LeGall, chairman and CEO of Arianespace, at ESA headquarters in Paris.
ESA officials said Gaia will map 1,000 million stars at unprecedented levels of precision, with the objective to use its census of stars to clarify the history and origins of our galaxy.
"Gaia will monitor each of its target stars about 70 times over a five-year period, precisely charting their positions, distances, movements and changes in brightness," the space agency said in a statement. "It is expected to discover hundreds of thousands of new celestial objects, such as extra-solar planets and failed stars called brown dwarfs. Within our own Solar System, Gaia should also identify tens of thousands of asteroids."
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