Follow all the action on the day as the European Space Agency prepares to launch its new mission to study dark matter and dark energy.
The European Space Agency’s Euclid spacecraft is set to launch this Saturday 1 July from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA.
The spacecraft – which has been tasked with observing the Universe and uncovering the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy, will launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Both ESA and SpaceX say they are targeting no earlier than 15:11 UTC / 16:11 BST / 17:11 CEST this Saturday 1 July, which is 11:11 local time.
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The Euclid mission, it is hoped, will shed some light on the so-called ‘dark Universe’.
All of the visible matter in the Universe – planets, stars, galaxies, everything we can see around us – accounts for just 5% of the total matter.
The other 95% is made up of two mysterious components: dark energy – the ‘force’ behind the accelerating expansion of the Universe – and dark matter.
Launch day
On the day of Euclid’s targeted launch, the launch programme will run between 14:30 – 16:10 UTC, and include the following key planned moments:
Times in UTC
- 15:11 Euclid launch on SpaceX Falcon 9
- 15:53 Separation of Euclid from Falcon 9
- 15:57 Earliest expected time to acquire Euclid’s signal
A backup launch date of Sunday 2 July has been announced by ESA.
Watch the Euclid launch live
You can watch the launch of the Euclid mission live online courtesy of ESA or NASA.
ESA
NASA