Ariane 5

NASA said Monday the launch of the $9.7 billion James Webb Space Telescope will be delayed at least four days until no earlier than Dec. 22 out of “sheer caution” to ensure the observatory suffered no damage from vibrations during a processing incident at its launch site in French Guiana.

The payload fairing on the most recent Ariane 5 launch last month worked perfectly, according to the European Space Agency, helping clear concerns about the shroud before liftoff of the James Webb Space Telescope on the next Ariane 5 flight in December.

A European Ariane 5 rocket fired into space Saturday night from French Guiana with a commercial broadband satellite for SES and a French military telecom craft, setting a new payload mass record for geostationary transfer orbit on the final Ariane 5 flight before launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in December.

A European Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in South America at 10:10 p.m. EDT Saturday (0210 GMT Sunday). The mission, the last Ariane 5 flight before launch with the James Webb Space Telescope, deployed the commercial SES 17 telecom satellite and the French military’s Syracuse 4A communications payload.

Arianespace is counting down to the blastoff of an Ariane 5 rocket Saturday night from French Guiana, the final flight of Europe’s workhorse launcher before NASA and the European Space Agency entrust it to launch the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope.

Arianespace delayed the launch from French Guiana of a European Ariane 5 rocket with two geostationary communications satellites Friday to conduct more checks of ground support equipment at the spaceport. The mission, set to loft payloads for SES and the French military, is the final Ariane 5 flight before a mission in December with the James Webb Space Telescope.

A ship carrying the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope left a port in Southern California last weekend to begin a nearly two-week journey to Kourou, French Guiana, where it will begin final preparations for launch Dec. 18 on a European Ariane 5 rocket.

A European Ariane 5 rocket launched from French Guiana Friday, succeeding on its first flight in nearly a year to deploy a pair of geostationary communications satellites for commercial operators in Brazil and France.

An Ariane 5 rocket launched at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) from Kourou, French Guiana, on the first mission for Europe’s heavy-lift launcher in nearly a year. The rocket successfully deployed two large communications satellites for Embratel and Eutelsat.