The James Webb Space Telescope mirrors undergoing cryogenic testing.
NASA/Ball AerospaceNASA has been planning to launch a powerful new telescope that can see across the universe and perhaps to the beginning of time for many years now. But the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) appears likely to have to wait at least two more.
On Tuesday, NASA said it needs more time to test the $8 billion space observatory, pushing back the scheduled launch date to approximately May 2020 from the earlier plans of next year.
"Webb is the highest priority project for the agency's Science Mission Directorate, and the largest international space science project in US history," Robert Lightfoot, NASA's acting administrator, said in a release. "All the observatory's flight hardware is now complete, however, the issues brought to light with the spacecraft element are prompting us to take the necessary steps to refocus our efforts on the completion of this ambitious and complex observatory."
JWST is the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, which launched back in 1990. Hubble has changed the way we see the universe by probing the mysteries of dark matter, analyzing the atmospheres of exoplanets beyond our solar system and more. When Hubble launched, we hadn't yet spotted the first exoplanet.
JWST is significantly larger and more powerful than Hubble, with over six times the light-collecting surface area of its predecessor's primary mirror. This should allow the new telescope to see deeper into space and further into the past than any instrument before it. It's possible that unlike Hubble, though, JWST will observe primarily in the infrared wavelengths.
Getting James Webb off the ground has been a struggle for over a decade due to a series of delays and cost overruns.
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