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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Gaia is the sixth cornerstone of the ESA Scientific Programme. Beginning 2006, theprogramme implementation phase was kicked off at Astrium Satellites. At summer 2010 allCritical Design Reviews of the modules have been passed successfully, which enables togive a good snapshot of the development progress. This presentation summarizes the historyof the satellite programme. The status of the current development will be presented with afocus of the main challenging equipment, with a particular insight on the payload.