European telescope launched to hunt for clues to universe's darkest secrets

A European space telescope blasted off on a quest to explore the mysterious and invisible realm known as the dark universe. SpaceX launched the European Space Agency’s Euclid observatory toward its ultimate destination, the Webb Space Telescope’s neighbourhood.

A European space telescope blasted off on Saturday on a quest to explore the mysterious and invisible realm known as the dark universe.

SpaceX launched the European Space Agency's Euclid observatory toward its ultimate destination 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometres) away, the Webb Space Telescope's neighbourhood.

It will take a month to get there and another two months before it starts its ambitious six-year survey this fall.

Flight controllers in Germany declared success nearly an hour into the flight, applauding and shouting “Yes!” as the telescope phoned home after a smooth liftoff.

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“I'm so thrilled, I'm so excited to see now this mission up in space, knowing it is on its way,” the European Space Agency's director general, Josef Aschbacher, said from the Florida launch site.

Named for antiquity's Greek mathematician, Euclid will scour billions of galaxies covering more than one-third of the sky. By pinpointing the location and shape of galaxies up to 10 billion light-years away — almost all the way back to the cosmos-creating Big Bang — scientists hope to glean insight into the dark energy and dark matter that make up most of the universe and keep it expanding.