Actually, the telescope should have been launched at the end of October, but it will be December. It is a relatively small delay for the telescope that should have been launched 14 years ago.

Most of you have probably lost count by now. But there is no doubt that the launch of the James Webb space telescope has been frequently postponed. Now there’s one more time. Instead of late October, the ingenious observatory will likely take to the skies in mid-December. And let’s just hope that this last time will indeed be postponed…

Preparation

At the end of August, ESA announced that the launch was now really coming. James Webb had passed the final tests with flying colors and was being prepared for transport to the launch pad. The telescope will be launched aboard an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from the European spaceport Kourou; a launch site in French Guiana, located on the northeast coast of South America. The top stage of the Ariane 5 is already on its way from Germany to the European spaceport.

Delay

NASA had previously set a launch date. For example, the space telescope would take to the skies on October 31, 2021. But now ESA and NASA are coming up with a new date together. The new target launch date has now been set to December 18. It is a relatively small delay for the telescope that should have been launched 14 years ago.

James Webb’s Delays
The construction of the James Webb space telescope was not without a struggle. For example, the mission has been delayed for about fourteen years. The launch should actually have taken place between 2007 and 2011; years that are far behind us. The reason for the ever-delayed launch date? Many things are involved in the construction of such a powerful telescope. And as the telescope’s development progressed, building the space telescope turned out to be not that easy. For example, the main mirror consists of eighteen individual mirrors that together have to behave like one large mirror. The enormous size of the telescope also poses challenges. For example, to fit into the five-metre-wide nose of a launch vehicle, the telescope must be carefully folded and then unfolded again later in space – 1.6 million kilometers from Earth. Once fully unfolded, the telescope – which has enormous solar panels in addition to a 6.5-meter high primary mirror – is about the same size as a tennis court. All these things led to the development phase being stretched endlessly.

The team says James Webb is expected to be shipped to French Guiana at the end of September. “We are on schedule,” said Daniel Neuenschwander of ESA. “The spaceport is busy preparing. We are fully committed to the success of this extraordinary mission.”

Launch

The Ariane 5 launch vehicle will launch the telescope into precise orbit around Earth. Moments after completing a 26-minute ride aboard the Ariane 5, James Webb will separate from the rocket and continue solo. After about four weeks, the observatory will arrive at its final destination: a place about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth.

What will the telescope do?
Webb will study the universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared. To do this, the telescope is equipped with an array of state-of-the-art cameras, spectrographs and coronagraphs. James Webb is also seen as the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope and is, for example, about 100 times more sensitive, opening a new window to the universe. The longer wavelengths allow Webb to uncover hidden parts of our solar system, see inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems form, reveal the composition of the atmospheres of exoplanets in greater detail and look further back in time to see the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.

Image: ESA

“We now know the day that thousands of people have been working towards for years and that millions of people from all over the world are looking forward to,” says ESA Director Günther Hasinger. “Webb and Ariane 5 are ready. We look forward to final preparations for launch from the European spaceport.”