After 12 years of mapping the Milky Way, the Gaia space telescope has completed its mission, but this is just the beginning of new discoveries.

The Gaia space telescope of the European Space Agency (ESA) has been dedicated to creating the largest three-dimensional map of our Milky Way galaxy for 12 years. On Wednesday, January 15, 2025, it concluded its exploration of space. However, scientists plan to release the processed data from the telescope over the next few years, which is expected to lead to new discoveries, reports Space.

The end of the Gaia space telescope's mission is due to the depletion of its cold gas fuel, which was used for rotation. Since its launch into space on December 19, 2013, the telescope consumed approximately 12 grams of this fuel daily. According to scientists from ESA, this does not mark the end of the Gaia mission, as the collection and processing of the acquired data continues.

During its operational period, the Gaia telescope studied nearly 2 billion stars and other objects in and around the Milky Way. Specifically, the telescope gathered information on the movement of stars, their brightness, temperature, and composition. The primary objective of the space telescope was to create the largest and most accurate three-dimensional map of the Milky Way. The first data release from the Gaia telescope took place on September 14, 2016, the second on April 25, 2018, and the third on June 13, 2022. Scientists at ESA are currently preparing the fourth data release, which is expected by mid-2026. Researchers believe that this new data release, based on 5.5 years of observations, will surpass the previous release in volume and data quality.

After this, scientists will begin processing the information gathered over 10.5 years of observations to create a fifth data release, anticipated by the end of this decade. Researchers state that all the data collected by the telescope will ultimately be presented only in the 2030s. This means that astronomers will continue to make new discoveries in the Milky Way based on this information for many years to come.

The Gaia telescope will now serve as a testbed for scientists aiming to enhance the management of space instruments and spacecraft. These tests will take place over the next few weeks while Gaia remains in a gravitationally stable point between the Earth and the Sun, known as the Lagrange point L2.

Once the Gaia telescope departs from the L2 point and its current orbit, it will be moved to an orbit that keeps it away from the Earth-Moon system in the near future. In March or April 2025, the Gaia telescope will transition to its final orbit, far from Earth's influence, preventing it from interfering with the operations of other space missions.