Euclid, an European Space Agency observatory was launched into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1511 UTC on July 1, from Space Launch Complex SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The observatory is now on its journey to the opposite side of the sun, roughly 1 million miles away.
Falcon 9 first stage returned to earth just eight minutes after liftoff, landing on SpaceX's A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed nearby in the Atlantic Ocean.
Euclid which separated from its rocket about 41 minutes after liftoff, is headed to the sun-Earth Lagrange point 2(or L2). Lagrange points are relatively stable orbits where satellites use a minimum amount of fuel. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope also orbits at L2.
"We have a mission," ESA Director-General Josef Aschbacher said during a live webcast just after liftoff. "I'm so excited for this mission now, knowing its on its way to Lagrange point 2 ... amazing, I'm very happy and very thrilled."
Designed to seek out invisible dark matter and dark energy, Euclid will aim its telescope eye to regions outside of the Milky Way, our own galaxy, to map over a third of the "extragalactic" sky. In its six-year mission, the deep space explorer will map billions of targets like galaxies and stars. Euclid's two instruments, focusing respectively on visible and infrared (heat-seeking) light wavelengths, will record the information for scientists.
"In the next six years of this mission, we will unravel the mysteries of the dark universe," Carole Mundell, ESA's director of science said. "So, a huge honor to be here. I think there'll be some partying tonight."
Away from Earth's interfering atmosphere and stray light, Euclid's sharp eyes will observe the movements of these distant objects, along with their chemical makeup.
WATCH SpaceX launch of the ESA's space observatory, Euclid