2001A&A...373L..21S

We use detailed numerical simulations and the υ Andromedae planetary system as a template to evaluate the capability of the ESA Cornerstone Mission GAIA in detecting and measuring multiple planets around solar-type stars in the neighborhood of the Solar System. For the outer two planets of the υ Andromedae system, GAIA high-precision global astrometric measurements would provide estimates of the full set of orbital elements and masses accurate to better than 1-10%, and would be capable of addressing the coplanarity issue by determining the true geometry of the system with uncertainties of order of a few degrees. Finally, we discuss the generalization to a variety of configurations of potential planetary systems in the solar neighborhood for which GAIA could provide accurate measurements of unique value for the science of extra-solar planets.