James Webb Space Telescope Launch Delayed to Christmas Eve—or Later

A communications glitch between the observatory and its launch vehicle forced the delay, NASA officials say

Technicians work on a telescope on the Ariane 5 rocket. — Technicians work to secure the James Webb Space Telescope atop the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch it to space from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

ESA/Manuel Pedoussaut

The launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been delayed yet again.

NASA’s long-awaited space observatory is now scheduled to lift off from French Guiana no earlier than Dec. 24, two days later than previously planned.

“The James Webb Space Telescope team is working a communication issue between the observatory and the launch vehicle system,” NASA officials said in a statement on Tuesday (Dec. 14). “This will delay the launch date to no earlier than Friday, Dec. 24. We will provide more information about the new launch date no later than Friday, Dec. 17.”

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The James Webb Space Telescope will ride to space on an Ariane 5 rocket provided by the European launch company Arianespace.

Engineers at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, just stacked the new space telescope on top of its Ariane 5 rocket on Saturday (Dec. 11).

Today’s delay is only the latest in a series of ongoing delays that have plagued the Webb telescope, which was originally scheduled to launch in 2007. The most recent delay was announced just three weeks ago, when NASA reported a problem with a clamp on the launch vehicle adapter.