NASA Postpones Webb Telescope Launch to 2020 for Testing to Resolve Technical Issues

Illustration of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope reset for launch in 2020.  Credit: NASA

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   27 March 2018

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  Top NASA officials announced today that launch of the  James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) -  the agencies highest priority and premiere space observatory - has been postponed to 2020 so that engineers can conduct additional testing to resolve technical issues recently uncovered during the final integration phase of the components comprising the highly complex spacecraft that will look back almost to the beginning of time.

Liftoff of the Webb Telescope has been delayed to no earlier than May 2020, pending additional reviews to be carried out by a newly established independent review board, said acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot at a media briefing for reporters today, March 27.

Officials disclosed that “avoidable” problems with the propulsion system and unexpected tears in the sunshade and snags in the deployment cables happened during recent testing that took longer than expected at the spacecraft integration facility of prime contractor Northrup Grumman located in Redondo Beach, California.  These significant glitches will now have to be corrected and resolved forcing a launch delay.  

“The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA’s highest priority science project and will leave a legacy for decades to come," said Lightfoot.  "Although the hardware is 100% complete, we need to complete vital testing and more testing time is needed to ensure success.”

NASA had already been projecting a recently revised launch delay to spring 2019 until today.  

Webb is currently undergoing final integration and test phases that will require at least another year of delay packed with rigorous testing to ensure a successful mission, NASA says.

“After an independent assessment of remaining tasks for the highly complex space observatory, Webb’s previously revised 2019 launch window now is targeted for approximately May 2020.”

To date the Webb project has cost $7.3 Billion out of a maximum funding of $8 Billion.

“Webb is the highest priority project for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, and the largest international space science project in U.S. history. All the observatory’s flight hardware is now complete, however, the issues brought to light with the spacecraft element are prompting us to take the necessary steps to refocus our efforts on the completion of this ambitious and complex observatory,” said acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot.

The sunshield of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope sits deployed inside a cleanroom at Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Redondo Beach, California, in October 2017. Credits: Northrop Grumman

Lightfoot added Congress has been briefed that Webb might exceed the $8 Billion cost cap. If it does exceed the cost cap, then Congress will need to reauthorize the Webb project according to law.

The stakes are so high that “Failure in not an option,” said Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Thomas Zurbuchen, several times during the briefing

The 18-segment gold coated primary mirror of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is raised into vertical alignment in the largest clean room at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Nov. 2, 2016. The secondary mirror mount booms are folded down into stowed for launch configuration.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com

I asked about the nature and extent of the tears in the sunshield and the snags in the cables.

“Altogether 7 tears were discovered on all 5 sunshade membranes. Two of the tears were 10 centimeters (4 inches) in maximum size,” Deputy Associate Administrator of SMD Dennis Andrucyk told Space UpClose during the briefing.

Each of the 18 hexagonal-shaped primary mirror segments measures just over 4.2 feet (1.3 meters) across and weighs approximately 88 pounds (40 kilograms).  They are made of beryllium, gold coated and about the size of a coffee table.

The Webb Telescope is a joint international collaborative project between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency  (CSA). 

Webb is designed to look at the first light of the Universe and will be able to peer back in time to when the first stars and first galaxies were forming.  It will also study the history of our universe and the formation of our solar system as well as other solar systems and exoplanets, some of which may be capable of supporting life on planets similar to Earth.

Watch this space for my ongoing reports on JWST mirrors, science, construction and testing.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

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