James Webb space telescope

The James Webb space telescope: in search of the secrets of the Milky Way

Billions of dollars over budget and years late, the most expensive, complex telescope to be sent into space will launch next month. What will it learn?

Robin McKie

27, Nov, 2021 @4:00 PM

Nasa delays James Webb space telescope launch after ‘sudden’ incident

Technicians were preparing to attach spacecraft to launch vehicle when unplanned event took place

Stuart Clark

25, Nov, 2021 @10:20 AM

Spacewatch: James Webb telescope to launch in December

Successor to Hubble will be carried into space from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana atop an Ariane 5 rocket

Stuart Clark

17, Sep, 2021 @5:00 AM

Spacewatch: James Webb telescope finally ready for launch

Successor to Hubble has been hit by delays and a ballooning budget since work began on it in 1996

Stuart Clark

03, Sep, 2021 @5:00 AM

Cosmic dawn: scientists hope to peer back in time to see birth of stars

Telescope may be able to observe event now calculated to have taken place 250-350m years after big bang

Linda Geddes Science correspondent

24, Jun, 2021 @1:39 PM

Spacewatch: Nasa delays James Webb space telescope to October 2021

Delay is result of coronavirus pandemic and technical challenges as troubled project is set to cost £6.8bn

Stuart Clark

23, Jul, 2020 @8:30 PM

It's quiet out there: scientists fail to hear signals of alien life

Breakthrough Listen project found no evidence of alien civilisations on 1,327 stars

Ian Sample Science editor

18, Jun, 2019 @5:53 PM

Nasa begins testing enormous space telescope made of gold mirrors

Agency has finished construction on the $8.8bn James Webb Space Telescope, whose 18 golden, hexagonal plates span the length of a tennis court

Alan Yuhas in San Francisco

04, Nov, 2016 @8:17 PM

To Mars and boldly beyond: space missions to look out for

A new world of space exploration is unfolding over the next few years, from the ExoMars robot drilling to asteroid exploration, the ESA’s mission to Jupiter’s icy moons and the Solar Orbiter

Hannah Devlin science correspondent

17, Jul, 2015 @1:00 PM

Hubble at 25: the wonder of the universe laid bare

The Hubble telescope, launched 25 years ago next month, is unrivalled in its breathtaking and compelling visions of the cosmos

Robin McKie

01, Mar, 2015 @12:19 AM

Formation-flying satellites link up to create giant virtual telescope in orbit

European Space Agency’s Proba-3 project to unlock mysteries of the sun, using small precision spacecraft, could be used to study distant stars and planets in search for evidence of alien life

Robin McKie, science editor

17, Jan, 2015 @1:09 PM

A cosmic plughole, echoes from the big bang and the most peaceful place on Earth – in pictures

This month's roundup of stunning space imagery includes a black hole spinning at half the speed of light, evidence of primordial gravitational waves, and a spiky chamber that excludes all radio, TV and cellphone signals

Eric Hilaire, James Kingsland

30, Apr, 2014 @1:46 PM