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Fnord666 writes:

It looks like the launch date for the James Webb Space Telescope has slipped again. It was slated to launch this coming Halloween but now it will be at mid-November at the earliest.

According to Ars Technica:

Last summer, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) set an October 31, 2021, launch date for the $10 billion telescope. The instrument, which is the largest science observatory ever placed into space, will launch on a European Ariane 5 rocket from a spaceport in French Guiana. Now, however, three considerations have pushed the launch into November or possibly early December.

[...] The launch campaign, which begins when the telescope arrives in French Guiana, requires 55 days. Asked whether this means that Webb will not launch until mid-November at the earliest, Zurbuchen said this assessment was correct.

Engadget added:

A delay of a few weeks is not much, considering the initial launch timeframe was around 2007. Still, there are reasons for optimism. Pushing back the launch by weeks rather than months or years is an indication that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter for the successor to Hubble.

Previously:

1. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Passes Crucial Launch-Simulation Tests
2. NASA's Webb to Examine Objects in the Graveyard of the Solar System
3. NASA Ominously Chooses Halloween 2021 to Launch Long-Delayed Space Telescope
4. James Webb Space Telescope Will "Absolutely" Not Launch in March
5. New Exoplanet Life Detection Method for James Webb Telescope

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