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T The ambitious James Webb space telescope (JWST) has a new launch date: March 2021. It was due to be taken off in October this year, but it has suffered many delays since the beginning of the project in 1996. [19659003] At the time, its budget was estimated at $ 500 million and the launch date was set for 2007. But the technical requirements of the mission were so difficult that delays began to mount and the costs started to skyrocket.
In 2011, the mission was almost canceled by the US Congress, but it yielded and capped the cost of the mission at about $ 8 billion. The latest delay, which was caused by abnormal test results that need to be studied, will bring the total budget to around $ 9.6 billion (£ 7.8 billion).
Where will this extra money come from at the present time? Testifying before the House's scientific committee in Washington this week, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine suggested that the agency could slow the development of another space telescope, the WFIRST, and divert funds to JWST.
The European Space Agency is a partner of JWST and will launch the Kourou Space Telescope in French Guiana, South America. They will also provide two instruments to the missions.
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