James Webb Space Telescope set for Christmas Eve launch

The James Webb Space Telescope will attempt to blast off on December 24 and will get a lift from a European Ariane rocket.

Nasa will launch its newest James Webb Space Telescope, which is considered the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, on Christmas Eve.

The James Webb Space Telescope is secured on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch it to space from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.  (AP File Photo)

Bill Nelson, the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said on Friday that the James Webb Space Telescope will attempt to blast off on December 24. A European Ariane rocket will provide the lift from South America's French Guiana scheduled for 7:20am EST.

Nelson told The Associated Press he expects a smaller crowd at the launch site because of the holidays. “Since it's Christmas Eve, all the congressional delegations that were going down, all of that has evaporated,” he told AP.

Nasa says the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope will “solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.”

Webb is an international programme led by Nasa and its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

Webb was supposed to soar Saturday, but could not as it was jolted by a clamp during launch preparations, resulting in a four-day delay. After that, a bad communication link on the rocket had to be fixed, postponing the launch another two days.

“There's so much riding on this opening up just all kinds of new understanding and revelations about the universe,” Nelson said.