WASHINGTON — U.K.-based QinetiQ got a 2.3 million-euro ($3 million) contract to supply a baffle for the Euclid space telescope designed for the European Space Agency by Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France, and due to be launched in 2020, the British company said in a Sept. 30 press release.

The baffle sits on top of the telescope and prevents stray light from entering into the optics.

Euclid, which is being built by prime contractor Thales Alenia Space of Turin, Italy, will investigate the so-called dark energy that causes the accelerated expansion of the universe. The observatory will also search for the dark matter that constitutes a quarter of the entire mass-energy of the universe.

Dan Leone is a SpaceNews staff writer, covering NASA, NOAA and a growing number of entrepreneurial space companies. He earned a bachelor’s degree in public communications from the American University in Washington.