The launch vehicle of the type Ariane 5 is expected to take off from the Kourou spaceport in French Guyana on Saturday, announced the US space agency Nasa. That would be a day later than last planned. It is not the first time that the starting shot for the joint project between the space agencies of Europe, the USA and Canada has been postponed. Originally, it should have been so far in October 2018.
The telescope is expected to fly 1.5 million kilometers into space and take about four weeks for this distance. With its help, scientists want to learn more about the early universe. They hope to take a look back into space shortly after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. “James Webb” succeeds the “Hubble” telescope, which has been in use for more than 30 years.