PERFORMANCE VERIFICATION PHASE

One month after launch and the spacecraft is now in orbit around L2 and the mission enters the Performance Verification phase, checking the capability of the instruments to meet the exacting mission requirements in space. Most of these measurements will not be possible to make on ground since they need the full spacecraft operating at the nominal temperate, and observing distant stars and galaxies. This is impossible to achieve in laboratories on Earth.

This phase also includes an initial assessment of the survey design, and the collection of data for the Early Release Observations, an early showcase of the Euclid mission. This mission phase lasts two months, after which ESA will review the results of the Spacecraft Commissioning and Performance Verification phases and authorise the start of the science mission phase.