# Gaia 3D model

> Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified.

Free 3D model of Gaia, a space telescope, built from published dimensions by Space Radar. 10,544 triangles, 97 kB glTF, MIT.

- **Class:** Space telescopes
- **Mission:** Astronomy
- **Triangles:** 10,544
- **File:** gaia.glb, 97 kB, glTF 2.0 binary (meshopt)
- **Look:** Flat colours
- **Size:** 10 m across
- **Made:** Built from dimensions
- **Added:** 2026-10-20
- **Download:** https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sara-Managed-Projects/space-radar/main/site/models/gaia.glb
- **Mirror:** https://git.sara-agent.org/sara-projects/space-radar/raw/branch/main/site/models/gaia.glb
- **Viewer:** https://www.spaceradar.ai/model/?id=gaia
- **On the live map:** https://www.spaceradar.ai/#at=deep-gaia
- **Licence:** MIT (https://github.com/Sara-Managed-Projects/space-radar/blob/main/LICENSE)
- **Credit:** Gaia 3D model by Space Radar (spaceradar.ai), MIT License

Canonical: https://models.spaceradar.ai/gaia/

## How it was made

Built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh. 3D model: built by Space Radar from published dimensions and a photograph of the full-size model (CC BY 2.0).

built by this project in code (the private tool model-from-images: assemble.py, from a yaml of primitives), from the cited dimensions and the pictures under `references`; no image-to-3D model was used, and no published mesh: ESA publishes no model of Gaia under terms that allow a derivative (its planetarium models, e.g. Webb's, may not be altered), and NASA's 3D Resources and NASA Science have none; a photograph of the full-size model's Sun side (CC BY 2.0) was looked at for the layout and is not in the file; NO ESA PICTURE OR MODEL IS IN THE FILE: ESA's published numbers were read as numbers. ESA's terms for the images on its site, read 2026-10-15 (https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Terms_and_Conditions): 'The website of the European Space Agency (the ESA Website) provides to users an online access to space images and videos for education, editorial and/or information purposes only. All other uses (e.g. commercial ones) are excluded and require a specific licence.' ESA's renders on Wikimedia Commons are CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (share-alike) and were looked at only

## Dimensions

- Shield: 10 m
- Height: 3.5 m
- Svm tube: 1.17 m
- Primary x: 1.45 m
- Primary y: 0.5 m

Source: Wikipedia, 'Gaia (spacecraft)', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(spacecraft), OPENED 2026-10-20: 'After launch, a 10-metre-diameter sunshade was deployed.'; 'consisted of two telescopes providing two observing directions with a fixed, wide angle of 106.5° between them'; '1.45 × 0.5 m primary mirror for each telescope'. eoPortal, https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/gaia, OPENED 2026-10-20: 'Spacecraft dimensions Height = 3.5 m, deployed diameter = 10 m'; 'The sunshield measured about 10 m across, too large for the launch vehicle fairing, so it comprises a dozen folding panels that will be deployed after launch.'; 'Some of the solar array panels that are needed to generate power are fixed on the sunshield, with the rest on the bottom of the spacecraft.'; 'Attached to the DSA were six rectangular solar panels (with triple-junction solar GaAs cells) that are constantly facing the sun once the shield was deployed.'; 'The module consisted of a central tube that was about 1.17 m long and hosts six radial panels to create a hexagonal spacecraft shape'; 'a bi-propellant Chemical Propulsion System (2 x 8 10 N thrusters used in cold redundancy)'; 'The Micro-propulsion System (2 x 6 proportional micro-thrusters)'. ESA, 'Gaia factsheet', OPENED 2026-10-20: '10 m across, with solar array deployed'. OURS: the drum's 3.3 m, the service module's 3.0 m across flats and 1.1 m, the openings' size and height, the six panels' 2.3 x 1.25 m and the fixed ring's 1.9 m, read off the photographs against the cited 10 m and 3.5 m.

## References

- [GAIA (14050944939)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GAIA_(14050944939).jpg), DLR, CC BY 2.0 (CC BY 2.0 (DLR German Aerospace Center; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20): a photograph of the full-size model of Gaia's Sun side, its six cell panels, the fixed ring and the antenna)
- [Maquette de Gaia salon du Bourget 2013 DSC 0191](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maquette_de_Gaia_salon_du_Bourget_2013_DSC_0191.JPG), Pline (CC BY-SA 3.0 (Pline; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20): share-alike, LOOKED AT ONLY for the cold side's foil and gold patches)
- [Gaia spacecraft](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaia_spacecraft.jpeg), ESA (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (European Space Agency; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-20): share-alike, LOOKED AT ONLY for the drum, its openings and the service module)