The University College of London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory has been awarded contracts to test equipment for the European Space Agency's Gaia star-mapping mission worth nearly $8 million.

The Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) will also supply equipment for the James Webb Space Telescope. MSSL is currently supplying with the onboard calibration system for the Near Infra-red Spectrometer on the telescope, and there are orders for two different sets of ground calibration equipment.

MSSL will also be working with Astrium France to test the 174 sets of electronics and special Charge Coupled Device detectors for the Gaia mission - the combination of which brings the contract's value to nearly $8 million.

Gaia is the European Space Agency's sixth Cornerstone Mission, and will examine the Milky Way. It will produce catalogues of positions, movements and properties of more than a billion stars. It is scheduled for launch in 2011.
University College of London