Successor to the Hubble telescope takes off on board rocket from ESA’s launch base in French Guiana
The world’s largest and most powerful infrared telescope has been launched into space on a mission to examine the first stars and galaxies and scour the universe for signs of life.
Scientists from Nasa, who worked with colleagues from the European and Canadian space agencies, believe the roughly $10bn James Webb space telescope – a successor to Hubble – will be the foremost space-science observatory of the next decade.