James Webb Telescope fuelled at launch site ahead of December 22 liftoff: ESA

The next-generation James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled for launch later this month, has been fuelled at the launch site, the European Space Agency (ESA) informed on Monday, December 6. The telescope is undergoing final checks and tests at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana ahead of its launch on December 22. The telescope, which is the most powerful one ever built, will be launched into space aboard Ariane 5, one of the most powerful rockets.

The Webb telescope gets filled with propellants

According to the ESA, the telescope has been filled with propellants which would be used by its thrusters to make critical course corrections after separation from the rocket in space. Set to be located about one and a half million kilometres from Earth, the telescope will use the propellant to maintain its orbit and manage its momentum during operations.

“Fuelling any satellite is a particularly delicate operation requiring the setup of the equipment and connections, fuelling, and then pressurisation”, ESA said in its statement. 

Detailing the fuelling process, the agency revealed that the Webb telescope’s propellant tanks were filled with 79.5 litres of extremely toxic dinitrogen tetroxide oxidiser and 159-litre hydrazine. The fuelling process ended on December 3 after 10 days as only a few specialists wearing protective suits were allowed in the dedicated fuelling area owing to the fuel’s toxicity. 

What’s next for Webb?

After decades of preparation by NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Webb telescope has finally reached the end stages of development. Since the fuelling process is complete now, engineers will soon start ‘combined operations’ which would eventually lead to stashing of the telescope in the rocket. In the next step, engineers working separately on the telescope and the rocket will collaborate to place Webb over the launch vehicle and then stash it in Ariane 5. 

The engineers will definitely be extremely careful as a recent incident that could have jeopardised the whole mission caused a delay in the launch from the previous date of December 18. Built at a cost of $10 billion, James Webb will be the most powerful telescope ever launched into space and is expected to expose many secrets of the early universe.

(Image: @ESA_Webb/Twitter)