James Webb Space Telescope launch – live: Nasa prepares for historic Christmas Day lift-off

NASA have created a page that allows anyone to track the James Webb Telescope during its launch and while it is in space.

The website shows the Telescope’s distance from Earth, its cruising speed and its distance from the L2 orbit, among other things.

Have a look for yourself here.

The Webb Telescope is the biggest observatory built for launch into space. It is so big that it has had to be folded to fit in the nosecone of its launch rocket.

The project is fraught with risk and has been plagued with years of delays and billions of dollars of overspends. The launch will be challenging but it’s what comes next that is making astronomers more worried.

Following the launch, the telescope will have to be unfolded in space.

“Once you get it launched, there’s still 300 things that have to work perfectly for it to be a success,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson told Space.com.

The rocket that will launch the James Webb Space Telescope has begun fueling for liftoff.

The Telescope is around two hours and thirty minutes from launch and the Ariane 5 rocket has begun filling up with 175 tons of propellant.

150 tons of liquid oxygen and 25 tons of liquid hydrogen are now fueling the rocket’s core stage.

A further 15 tons of propellant will be loaded into the rocket’s upper stage. The fueling is expected to be completed by one hour and 22 minutes before launch, a NASA spokesperson said.

The James Webb Telescope will try to image the very first stars and galaxies to shine in the universe.

The project, which has taken 30 years to design and build, is expected to shine new light on the beginning of the universe and on our place in it.

The Telescope will be able to do this with the help of a 6.5m-wide golden mirror. The reflecting surface should allow the Telescope to detect the light from the “pioneer” stars. These are stars that are thought to have ignited more than 13.5 billion years ago.

As a result the Webb Telescope should be able to view the cosmos just 100 million years after the Big Bang.

Astronomers have discovered nearly 5,000 planets orbiting other stars in the last 30 years. The James Webb Space Telescope will also begin scanning a sample of the alien worlds to try to find out which ones might harbour the right conditions for life.

Professor Martin Barstow, a scientist who helped develop the device, said: “We will learn about the origins of the universe and how life came about and possible, although we can’t guarantee, about other life in our galaxy as well.”

He added: “The telescope is that important that it’s going to completely change the way we view the universe and the way we view our place in it.”

The launch time for the James Webb Space Telescope is currently scheduled for 12.20pm GMT on Saturday, 25 December.

Following years of delays and cost overruns, Nasa was forced to push back the initial launch date on Christmas Eve due to upper-high level wind, but it’s looking good for now.

“There are over 300 things, any one of which goes wrong, it is not a good day,” Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson warned. “So the whole thing has got to work perfectly.”

You’ll find everything you need to know about the launch and how to watch it right here:

to The Independent’s live coverage of the James Webb Space Telescope launch. There have been several delays to the historic lift-off, but weather is so far looking good for the $10 billion observatory to reach space on Christmas Day.

We’ll have all the latest updates from the launch in French Guiana, as well as a live stream from Nasa as soon as it’s available.