<\/p>\n
Gaia, departed on 23 August 2013 from Toulouse to the French Guiana. Gaia will be launched later this year from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou on a five-year mission to map the stars of the Milky Way with unprecedented precision.<\/p>\n
Built by Astrium in Toulouse, the Gaia spacecraft took off on board an Antonov 124 heavy-lift aircraft from Toulouse airport with the destination of Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. The spacecraft was later transported by truck to Europe\u2019s Spaceport in Kourou, 64 km from Cayenne.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very exciting day for the Gaia mission and all the teams involved, who have worked for years to get to where we are today,\u201d said Giuseppe Sarri, ESA\u2019s Gaia project manager. \u201cArriving in Kourou and starting the launch campaign is a great achievement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarri, who also flew on the Antonov aircraft with Gaia, said that the flight from Europe to South America went smoothly. \u201cWe are now looking forward to the coming weeks of final preparation, which we will undertake with the same care and determination that the teams have shown so far when building the spacecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n
On 28 August, a second Antonov 124 aircraft carried Gaia\u2019s sunshield and most of the ground support equipment from Toulouse to Cayenne. At that point, all the spacecraft parts and equipment have been arrived in French Guiana, leading towards the launch later this year.<\/p>\n